Stevenson is such a fine writer: sinewy and erudite, dark and funny... I loved this book and if it doesn't find its way into an awful lot of suitcases this summer, there is no justice

Jane Stevenson writes with easy and erudite fluency, perceptive candour and scalpel-like precision. Her characters are sexy, articulate and persuasive

At around 70 pages a pop, a Stevenson novella is the perfect literary form for our attention-deficient era: short enough to span a couple of journeys into work or a pair of bedtimes, yet as satisfying emotionally as many fictions five times the length, and with a tension and humour nourished by their concision. Elegant and cool, Stevenson's prose remains a wonderful thing, as efficient and unobtrusive as glass

Utterly beguiling novellas...this is literary fiction as pure entertainment

Acutely observed, funny and warm

Stevenson offers some engagingly sharp observations about family life

Immensely satisfying. Rich and compelling

In a style as piercing as the glint in an estate agent's eye, she has written three marvellous morality tales for our mortgaged times

Stevenson is sophisticated and irrepressibly playful...King Solomon had it that a good woman was worth more than rubies. Stevenson's Good Women are worth their weight in gold

Jane Stevenson has a unique talent for exploring the feminine sphere in a radically gutsy way, and I challenge any woman not to be so engrossed by her stories that she doesn't notice herself whooping with glee then collapsing in cathartic tears

Very good indeed. Flinty, fiery and funny

Poignant and wonderful story...concentrates, without effort, all Malouf's themes...it needs to be read