Simple humanity, eloquently caught....Though Cal is a bleak novel, there is a flicker of lyricism running through it, like the sun shining through the shattered windows of a ruined church

To fashion a short, telling novel out of the hideous complexities of Northern Ireland takes narrative skill of a high order. In Cal Bernard MacLaverty has managed to do it superbly

It performs the remarkable feat of compressing into its short span both a doomed love affair and an account of the impossibility of living, in the circumstances of that doomed province, without redemption and without punishment… MacLaverty has a true feeling for tragedy’

Full of slow-burning tension

Rich and atmospheric

Well-executed and brooding, with a creepy atmosphere

Satisfying, dreamy and delicious – leaves you wanting just a little bit more . . . Roll on July for part two!

Such a charming, feel-good story

A chilling and thrilling novel for wintery nights by the fire

This gripping tale of survival and redemption is beautifully written and acutely observed

A quirky, funny and rather delightful debut novel.

A heart-warming read

Hilarious.

A warm novel [with] echoes of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle

This glorious comic novel is full of sweet-natured humour tempered with genuine emotion. Absolutely adorable.