Author:Morris Gleitzman
That's the good thing with stories. There's always a chance they can come true.
Felix is lucky. Unlike the other children in the orphanage, he's certain his parents will come back for him one day. And whatever the Nazis do and however many books they burn, Felix's imagination provides him and his companions with an endless supply of stories - stories that protect them when they're on the run, shield them from the violent madness all around, give them hope when all seems lost, and one day may even save Felix's life.
Once & Then is a spellbinding story of hope and imagination in the most terrible circumstances.
However my story turns out, I'll never forget how lucky I am.
The English novel's only down-to-earth romantic... there is a quality of golden light that hangs over his books. That comes, I think, from his sense of order and from his own vast, undemonstrative solicitude
—— John Ezard , GuardianA first-class storyteller, and his narrative is extraordinarily convincing
—— J. B. PriestleyBrilliant...an involving meditation on passion, history and architecture
—— Daily MailA love letter to Liverpool...ambitiously conceived... He has perfect pitch when it comes to the prose of each period, so much so that when I started the novel, I had the uncanny sense that what I was reading must have been salvaged from the 1940s. Its every line convinces
—— Kate Kellaway , ObserverThe story has the resonant simplicity of a poem... The Rescue Man turns the ongoing frenzy of construction and destruction into a quietly powerful metaphor of how we grow up
—— GuardianAn excellent debut...a moving and powerfully told story of late coming-of-age and redemptive love
—— Literary ReviewTells the slowly unfolding story of Baines' journey of self-discovery with great subtlety
—— Sunday TimesQuinn has a cinematic eye for narrative scope... Like all good novels this book tells us something new
—— SpectatorAn absorbing tribute to the city and its unsung heroes
—— Holly Kyte , Sunday TelegraphIn a novel of cinematic denouements, Quinn has reclaimed an intriguing chapter of Liverpool's past
—— Emma Hagestadt , IndependentA real page-tuner
—— Mail on SundayHe [Anthony] hooks you in with his deep, complex characters; he meticulously sets the scene
—— www.thebookbag.co.ukA constantly engaging and witty novel from a tremendously clever writer.
—— TelegraphPlausiby drawn....strong central characters, interesting subplots and well-sketched minor characters.
—— TLSAs idiosyncratic as it is ambitious...given shape and purpose by a true literary craftsman. The book both keeps you reading and makes you think.
—— Sally Cousins , Sunday TelegraphI drank in Nigel Farndale's The Blasphemer in huge lungfuls, and mourned it when it was finished. For anyone who loved Saturday, Atonement or Birdsong, this is the generational novel at its best.
—— Mail on Sunday