A ravishing novel from the great family saga-teller Cressida Connolly and an honourable tribute to the past

Connolly's vivid characterisation, supple prose and striking imagery sweep you along, in an absorbing and affecting saga that uses one family's story to anatomise the different stages of grief

In recent British fiction I can think only of Tessa Hadley who rivals Connolly in exacting such intricate, compelling drama from close-knit families . . . I don't often wish a book were longer, but this one I did

Masterful . . . a joy to see it garnering the ecstatic reviews it deserves

Moving [and] powerful . . . Connolly's vividly drawn characters grapple with trauma, unkindness and greed in an intriguing novel where past actions reverberate in the present

Connolly, like Anne Tyler and Tessa Hadley, is a master of fluidly shifting perspectives, a sharply witty observer of social class, and a champion of imaginative empathy

Bad Relations is an amazing achievement and one of the most satisfying books you're likely to read this year

Elegantly written, this subtle, satisfying, well-observed novel is a delight

Another fascinating, moving story from the author of After the Party

This clever novel set across three timelines tells the story of a family haunted by tragedy. A skilfully written, powerful drama

The plot is neat, tight and unexpected but the novel's deep satisfaction comes from Connolly's total immersion in historical atmosphere and profound understanding of human pain

A gripping story of love, loss and tragic betrayal

What if you could write a novel whose main plot points are a death in combat, a suicide and the breakdown of family relations, and make it beautiful? What if you dared not to show the grimmest bits, but let them happen off-stage, while using elegant, beautiful prose to paint the spaces around them? Cressida Connolly is that brave writer and Bad Relations is her latest masterpiece . . . ravishing

Haunting

The characters in Bad Relations are so brilliantly real, so wonderfully compelling at their best, and at their worst, that I can't get them out of my head. A wonderful novel

A writer who seems able to peer directly into the human heart

Uncanny, evocative, atmospheric

Connolly is a terrifically subtle writer... [she] slyly sweeps her readers into the period drama as tensions tauten between families and social classes

Profound and moving and completely original, with a storyline that is completely satisfying. It'll be one of those novels that stays in my mind forever... it's a work of art

I finished it in two days flat and I've never read anything quite like it

A wonderfully subtle and interesting account of the Mosley women, with a compelling voice

Far and away my favourite novel of the year ... A gorgeous book, following the lives of three half-siblings from the '20s and through World War II, the same canvas Kate Atkinson has used to such great effect. Love, grief and comedy in perfect balance: it's hard to believe that this accomplished novel comes from a first-timer

Deservedly a surprise bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic ... Absorbing the best parts of Kate Atkinson, Evelyn Waugh and Elizabeth Jane Howard, this is a book to sink into and be propelled along by its brilliant storytelling. Few debuts have been as assured as this; Quinn is a frighteningly talented writer

Elegantly written and totally immersive. Helmed by fierce, imaginative Cristabel, it follows the fate and fortune of the three Seagrave siblings as they stage a theatrical production in their crumbling Dorset manor, and cope with the darkness of World War II and the long shadow it casts over their ramshackle, but golden, childhoods

For all the novel's satirical tang and historical sweep, it's at root a tender portrait of apparently simple folk trying to fathom the mystery of their own personalities

A tender portrayal of the state of the nation through the prism of family relationships

There is much to enjoy here, as in all Coe's novels . . . an intelligent criticism of our shared history since 1945

[Coe] has a huge talent for balancing humour with poignancy

Simultaneously intimate and transnational . . . this is deeply engaging, serious and beautiful writing that carries its echoing questions with grace

Compelling . . . Superb characterisation and sharp insights throughout make this an immensely enjoyable novel

Intelligent and enthralling

The Magician, Colm Tóibín's new novel about Mann, resists the shallow gestures of Hollywood biopics, reaching for something mainstream film couldn't get at, or wouldn't bother with. How does an artist create, and can a true artist live as the rest of us do?

This meticulously woven novel re-creates the life of Thomas Mann . . . An ode to a 20th-century genius and a feat of literary sorcery in its own right

The personal and public history is compelling . . . an intriguing view of a writer who well deserves another turn on the literary stage

[The Magician] vibrates with the strength of Mann's visions and the sublimity of Tóibín's mellifluous prose. Tóibín has surpassed himself

This vibrates with the strength of Mann's visions and the sublimity of Tóibín's mellifluous prose. Tóibín has surpassed himself

Compelling . . . Tóibín succeeds in conveying his fascination with the Magician, as his children called him, who could make sexual secrets vanish beneath a rich surface life of family and uncommon art . . . intriguing

Employing luxurious prose that quietly evokes the tortured soul behind these literary masterpieces, Tóibín has an unequalled gift for mapping the interior of genius

Literary lovers will want to sink into this absorbing reimagining of the life of the Nobel Prize-winning German writer Thomas Mann . . . Mann family members have their own struggles - with each other and a world where they rarely feel at home - all vividly brought to life

You don't have to be a Thomas Mann fan to be gripped by the account of his life that author Colm Tóibín delivers in his new novel . . . [Tóibín's] his biggest triumph is in getting to the heart of Mann's dilemma

A celebration of what novels can do

Devastatingly human . . . savage, sordid and hauntingly believable

Tremendous, richly beautiful, wonderful . . . it does everything we ought to ask of a great novel

Subtle and enthralling