Isabella Hammad’s remarkably accomplished debut novel very quickly snares the reader’s attention… Hammad is a natural storyteller... The writing is deeply humane, its wide vision combined with poised restraint… A story of cultures in simultaneous conflict and concord, The Parisian teems with riches – love, war, betrayal and madness – and marks the arrival of a bright new talent.

Breathtaking… Isabella Hammad establishes herself here as a literary force to be reckoned with. The Parisian is, in many ways, an extraordinary achievement.

A stunning 576-page debut, both a lush rendering of Palestinian life a century ago under the British Mandate and a sumptuous epic about the enduring nature of love… a small, beautiful, human story blazing against the enormity of the sociopolitical one… a novel you sink into.

One of the most ambitious first novels to have appeared in years… Written in soulful, searching prose, it’s a jam-packed epic… Hammad is a natural social novelist with an ear for lively dialogue as well as an ability to illuminate psychological interiority… Hammad is a writer of startling talent – and The Parisian has the rhythm of life.

The Parisian has an up-close immediacy and stylistic panache that are all the more impressive coming from a London-born writer still in her 20s… There are intimidating 19th-century precedents – Tolstoy, Turgenev, Stendhal… Isabella Hammad has crafted an exquisite novel that, like Midhat himself, delves back into the confusing past while remaining wholly anchored in the precarious present.

[In] this lavish, leisurely and immersive novel… an English-language epic steeped in Palestinian stories from almost a century ago… Ms Hammad overlays a sophisticated, up-to-date grasp of the scars, overt and covert, left by unjust authority onto the traditional pleasures of the sprawling historical saga… a novelist of vision.

Hammad has an exquisite control on her subject: this is precise writing, measured, and careful… her detail makes you feel the homes and cities she takes us to, and the people that inhabit them, are as multifaceted and mysterious as those of real life… It is Hammad’s sustaining of both perspectives, the minutiae that make up an individual life and the macro political upheavals that change a country forever, that makes The Parisian so impressive.

The Parisian is akin to plunging into a great 19th-century classic, thanks to the languorous pace, easy poise, minute observations and the apparent ease with which Hammad takes her third person narrative from one character to another… There is also an underlying urgency to this rich, luscious novel… The Parisian is a skilful demonstration of how the personal and the political are inescapably intertwined.

You’ll be transported across decades, emotions, plots and people with gravity-defying ease… Uniting themes such as the breakdown of the Middle East (it’s an invaluable understanding into the problems that continue to this day) and the rootlessness of migrants, Hammad creates a real sense of time and place luxuriating in the details of food, smells and sights; take a weekend off and disappear into her vision.

It is startling to think this ambitious tour-de-force was written into life by someone at the start of their literary career… with even the tiniest of details meticulously observed, this debut follows the changing desires of a boy as he is moulded into a man, the irresistible pull of family loyalty and the search for peace, as much within, as on, the global stage.

An admirably ambitious debut... With energy and care, [Hammad] animates a crucial period of Palestinian history that most readers will know little about.

The Parisian is a sublime reading experience: delicate, restrained, surpassingly intelligent, uncommonly poised and truly beautiful. It is realism in the tradition of Flaubert and Stendhal - everything that happens feels not so much imagined as ordained. That this remarkable historical epic should be the debut of a writer in her twenties seems impossible, yet it's true. Isabella Hammad is an enormous talent and her book is a wonder.

The love story at the heart of [The Parisian]… is rendered in aching detail… Hammad has a great eye for the acts of increasing intimacy along the way to falling in love.

Glorious… Hammad asks some fascinating questions about the way narratives have shaped, and continue to shape, our world… Provocative, testing and magnificently risky, this is an author writing for her life.

The Parisian is a gripping historical novel, a poignant romance, and a revelatory family epoch. Above all, it is a generous gift. There is a kind of joy that can hold not only pleasure, but struggle, and even sadness. This novel tells that kind of joyful story, and evokes that kind of joy in the reader.

The Parisian is a lushly imagined, beautifully written, expansive powerhouse of a debut. Isabella Hammad is a great new voice.

An exquisite, intricate and wise novel. I was utterly gripped from the first page until the last. This sweeping, historical epic marks the arrival of a wonderfully gifted author. Isabella Hammad is a marvel and The Parisian is an unforgettable read.

[Hammad cuts] through the familiar dichotomies of West and Near East, placing her protagonist in a rich web of families, political intrigues, and cultural exchanges, and subtly reconfiguring the literary tropes of “home” and “abroad”.

It's a big family novel like Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy but it charts the history of Palestine... The prose is impeccable.

The Parisian is extraordinary—wise, ambitious, and lavishly rewarding. With luminous prose and rare compassion, Bella Hammad offers her readers an absorbing story of war and identity, of love and independence, of hope and history. It’s an astonishing novel, heralding the arrival of a major talent.

With masterful lyricism and unflinching insight, The Parisian captures the personal passion and political violence of a nascent nation’s struggle for independence. Hammad has written a profound and intoxicating epic, brimming with unexpected, vivid imagery and unforgettable characters. Hers is a fresh voice of the first order.

Superb… There’s romance and adventure and adversity… sublimely written.

Isabella Hammad shows a rare maturity, both in her marshalling of a huge cast of characters and in her ability to illuminate such a politically charged period of history without didacticism or literary showboating.

Sumptuous and sharply observed – an old-school novel to lose yourself in.

Hammad taps into the satisfying slow-burn style of classic literature with a storyline that captures both the heart and the mind…This is an immensely rewarding novel that readers will sink into and savor.

An assured debut novel that sets the life of one man against the tumultuous backdrop of Palestine in the waning years of British occupation… Closely observed and elegantly written.

Undeniably beautiful.

An engrossing, sweeping novel.

The are moments of such lyric beauty in The Parisian, Isabella Hammad’s debut novel, that you want what they describe to be permanently closed, hers to be the final word… [The Parisian] also has a close grasp of history, and the high quality of its writing never fades.

The Parisian by Isabella Hammad has already won advance praise from Zadie Smith, and deservedly so: this tale of a Palestinian immigrant... is beautiful historical fiction.

Hammad traces her protagonist’s emotional journey with great sensitivity, against a backdrop of historical events… a vivid, capacious historical novel.

The Parisian is a graceful and balanced book, animated throughout by an immense social intelligence… a pleasure to read.

A sweeping historical novel that opens in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire… The Parisian calls to mind a 19th-century novel.

Complex, subtle and challenging… [The Parisian is] excelling––with a powerful ending that is moving in the way it knits together the themes of self-betrayal and social and political treachery.

Reconciling oneself with the pain and pleasure of the ties that bind one to certain people and places is something that lies at the heart of Hammad’s novel… the world Hammad paints is a rich one.

Hammad… convincingly weaves the conversations and arguments around the Palestinian table, inviting the reader to join the friends and family who are full of complexity and humanity, and refuse to be defined by the tragedy that is befalling them… To read The Parisian is to gradually get to know a friend, like drinking tea with a favourite uncle and hearing about family stories, gossip and politics.

Escapism in the form of adventure and sisterhood. This is a novel with real depth and feeling and touches on worker's rights, racism, environmentalism and education

This tribute to female friendship and the joy of books is a compelling read

A captivating tale of love, friendship and self-actualisation

Escapism in the form of adventure and sisterhood. A novel with real depth and feeling. Empowering

An exploration of people's cruelty and also their kindness

The author of Me Before You pulls off a cracker with this stirring, exciting adventure story inspired by true events, in depression-era Kentucky, women find freedom and friendship by joining a brigade of horseback librarians

Jojo Moyes is back with another page turner. Inspired by a remarkable true story, The Giver of Stars features five incredible women who will prove to be every bit as beloved as Lou Clark, the unforgettable heroine of Me Before You

Joyous. Pucky female characters and wonderful writing. This is her best

About five extraordinary women in 1920s Kentucky, who worked on horseback as travelling librarians

An enthralling read based on a true story

One to get lost in. Escape with this book and follow the story of five women who are embarking on a powerful journey - and refuse to obey any man's commands!

A brand-new page-turner . . . based on a true story and tracks five feisty women living in America during the Great Depression

Jojo Moyes is back with this tale based on the real-life horseback librarians of Kentucky

Took me to the mountains of depression-era Kentucky where brave women librarians risked all to deliver books on horseback

Celebrates the world of books . . . A fictional yarn about a quintet of extraordinary intrepid women from disparate backgrounds

From the very first page, I was drawn into the world and the characters that Jojo Moyes has so carefully created

A fabulous adventure story

Praise for Jojo Moyes

Moyes somehow manages to break your heart before restoring your faith in love

Raw, funny, real and sad, this is storytelling at its best

Immensely readable and enjoyable

This truly beautiful story made us laugh, smile and sob like a baby - you simply have to read it

Wonderfully written and completely engrossing, with exquisitely drawn characters in a brilliantly plotted narrative

A heart-stopping read. Destined to be the novel that friends press upon each other

Britain's best contemporary female author

The storytelling treads the delicate balance between heartbreak and hope perfectly

A triumph

A tender, funny and hopeful look at love, grief and life. Bumper box of tissues required

Joyful, with a pitch-perfect ending

Julia Whelan is perfect as Alice Wright

Concentrates on sisterhood and friendship

A sweeping story of female friendship with a dash of romance, set in 1930s Kentucky

Her writing is beautiful and whimsical with unique storylines

This most recent book of Jojo's is her best . . . I loved this adventure story for girls for its plucky female characters and wonderful writing