Everyone's idea of a smash-hit first novel: full-blown characters to love and hate, moments of grief and joy, and a marvellous story that knows just how to grab the emotions

Set against the dreamy backdrop of 1970s Santa Monica, Clouds over California is a touching story about the difficulties of accepting change and the importance of being true to yourself. I absolutely loved spending time in Stevie's world.

Clouds over California is a taste of history with the thrills of mystery and brims with family secrets. Karyn Parsons created a sweet, heartfelt story filled with curiosity and hope.

One of the best stories I've read in a long while

[An] exquisite book... a deeply affecting, wholly unsolemn treatment of some of the 20th century's darkest moments.

The prowess of his storytelling makes him a graceful guide through "the great world of the past"... Cunningly crafted, Faulks's fictional bridge between the French past and present has its sentimental side.

There is humour and humanity in this bold, perceptive novel.

Both thoughtful and thought-provoking with memorable characters and a profound sense of the past in the present

Here is Paris in all its beauty and squalor, its blood-stained history and its ability to instil in its lover a sense of the true sweetness of life. So this intelligent, moving, often disturbing novel is also really a love letter to Paris and indeed to France.

There is much to learn from Paris Echo about the city’s complex identity, and about the way we view the past.

Paris Echo tackles its subjects – war, identity, colonial legacies – with the skill and emotional power that have delighted his readers for three decades

Faulks is a fine descriptive writer and evokes Paris splendidly

Paris Echo is an enjoyable and highly readable novel. Faulks has an easy-going style and he draws you seemingly without effort into the world he creates. He has a knowing humour too…In part the novel is a love letter to Paris, but it is also the latest product of Faulk’s long-standing and fascinating engagement with the devastating events of the 20th century.

This intelligent, moving, often disturbing novel is also really a love letter to Paris – and, indeed, to France

Faulks excels at creating well-rounded characters.

An intriguing guide to the many layers of Parisien life.

Master storytelling... [An] intriguing and moving story that shows how the future is shaped by the past.

‘Paris Echo is an enjoyable and highly readable novel. Faulks has an easy-going style and he draws you seemingly without effort into the world he creates. He has a knowing humour too…In part the novel is a love letter to Paris, but it is also the latest product of Faulk’s long-standing and fascinating engagement with the devastating events of the 20th century.’

Immersive

A lovely novel by a writer who lives and breathes France

Faulks masterfully reminds readers of the city’s indecipherable mystique and bottomless artistic generosity

‘[a} stimulating novel’

Another terrific, intelligent read from Faulks