If you want to escape lockdown completely, then I recommend any novel by Georgette Heyer, or indeed, all her novels. They are absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes, winsome heroines, fops, dandies, dastardly baddies and lots of sumptuous descriptions of silk-lined bonnets, cravats and breeches. Utter, immersive escapism. Try starting off with Frederica.

My favourite historical novelist -- stylish, romantic, sharp, and witty. Her sense of period is superb, her heroines are enterprising, and her heroes dashing. I owe her many happy hours

Triumphantly good

Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic

A writer of great wit and style

Sparkling

There are sharply skewered set pieces, but also tender observations . . . a promising, deftly written, often entertaining and poignant debut novel

Loved it from start to finish, really laugh out loud: well-written, packed with ideas and observations and so engaging I can't put it down

I absolutely adored it. So clever and funny and such a treat. The pages really did turn themselves

A stunning achievement: I was laughing out loud, doing my best a few minutes later not to burst into tears and then angry that it had all come to an end. So moving, so funny, so beautifully written and so poignant. Brilliant

Utter BRILLIANCE. Dolly is such an insightful commentator on love, longing, friendship and emotional landscapes. I absolutely LOVED it!

Dolly Alderton's writing is incredibly intimate, tender, and observant. Ghosts is a fantastic novel about friendship, family, and love

I loved it - Dolly Alderton has clearly mastered every form of writing. Which is a surprise to nobody

This is a lovely, funny, modern comedy of manners. It's shrewd and sharp

I love this book. It is wise, funny, tender and true, sharply-observed and utterly hilarious. Alderton's gift is always to give the mundane its beautiful due and in Ghosts, she manages to write a compulsively readable novel. Dolly Alderton's talent is phenomenal

I loved it. Had me howling with laughter and recognition!

You know a book has hit the spot when you've decided before finishing which friend you're going to pass it to. The writer's skill at dissecting love and relationships translates seamlessly into fiction

This brilliantly observed novel will make you nod, laugh and cry in recognition

Such clever writing, wonderfully funny; fab characters and delightful details. Divine

If you've ever been disappointed by a man it will vindicate every mixed-up emotion you've ever had about it

Hilariously cutting, but also sad and insightful. Reading Dolly's writing is like having one of those glorious girls night in, where you drink till the early hours - laughing, venting, and feeling warm and seen

Whip-smart . . . a heartwarming tale of family and friendship

So brilliantly perceptive, packed with pin-sharp observations on every page. Dolly is such a fantastic writer

Witty, tender, big-hearted

A few years ago, Alderton seamlessly taped into our psyches with her 2018 memoir Everything I Know About Love. Now she's back with that same signature wit and blistering honesty in her debut novel, Ghosts

Alderton masterfully exposes the hideous reality of dating in your 30s and how unfair it can be on women who enter the fray in honesty and hope. Hugely emotionally intelligent and often very funny. I adored it

A fascinating, perceptive look at what it means to be a thirty-something woman right here, right now . . . Sharply observed, sometimes tender, sometimes tart, Ghosts will resonate with so many women

Dolly sums up life in your thirties with such wit, warmth and accuracy, you won't want it to end

Alderton balances heartrending emotion with keen-eyed satire, displaying a flair for metaphor and comic set pieces

Funny and insightful, it's a brilliant look at the way we can be haunted by doubts, memories and home

Alderton has a talent for believability, realism and the knack to reach into the pages and pull out the characters onto the sofa next to you. Topical, relevant with a touch of tender humour

As warm-hearted, wise and observant as her bestseller Everything I Know About Love. In this heartfelt, funny and insightful tale, Alderton cleverly explores the way memories, doubts and home can haunt us

Alderton explores the ideas of relationships, friendships, love, memory and the way in which we live in a beautifully written and poignantly powerful novel

Stuffed full of insights and adroit observations . . . a masterpiece of modern manners. Alderton's life-enriching social anthropology will be the antidote for flagging spirits in the next lockdown' Spectator

Achingly relatable. A darkly funny-melancholic novel about the rich variety of relationships in our lives - and the importance of showing up for them

This modern love story has lashings of arch humour and gentle wisdom, and slides down as pleasingly as a slice of cake and a nice cuppa

Explores the ideas of relationships, friendships, love, memory and the way in which we live in a beautifully written and poignantly powerful novel

If you need a good rom-com escape, Dolly Alderton more than delivers in Ghosts. . . it's darker than Everything I Know About Love - but just as fantastically relatable

Stibbe is one of the all-time greats

Very few writers can find the delicate balance between heartbreak and hilarity like Nina Stibbe

Funny, charming, odd-in-the-best-way and gorgeously uplifting! A delight from start to finish

Joyful. Stibbe's comedy probes what it means to become an adult

Pitch perfect vintage comedy

I love everything Nina Stibbe writes and this was my favourite of the novels. It's so sharp and painful and brilliantly funny. There are sentences you could eat for Christmas dinner. If you haven't read it already - you probably have but just in case - I really do think you'd love it

Riveting drama packed with suspense and secrets

Like drinking a pink Cosmo laced with arsenic . . . a fun, engaging and sometimes disturbing read

Perfect

Fascinating and compassionate

I loved every line of it

Funny and captivating

A cracking story cleverly told