A novel whose freshness of tone, energy of plotting and sweet nature make it exceptional by any standards

Few novelists offer such a rich concoction of amoral spice and cleverness; but to judge her work exclusively on this level is to miss more subtle rewards

With its brilliant final twist, this is Mary Wesley's best yet

Once again, Kennedy brilliantly interweaves over-wrought internal dialogue with external outrageous acts. The unfolding tenderness of nature and of amity blend superbly with the casualness of daily horror

Day is more than a novel, it is an investigations into the difficulties of being alive

Day is a very good novel. It is largely about love, as most novels are, but the author's skill with language... makes the average cliché unique... Historical details become flesh and funny in her hand

AL Kennedy has built a reputation as one of the fiercest, most bloody minded and thrilling British writers and her new novel more than backs that up... Day is an utterly engrossing read

Day is a remarkable performance

This is a remarkably clean lined book, of highly literary construction, that still feels huge and wide ranging. Day is a forceful, wholly achieved piece of work by a writer of enormous power. It ought to win all the prizes going

Well deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Ms Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh

It is quite outstanding, full of beauty, pain and truth... We are lucky to have this book

The facts surrounding the discovery of this book are as remarkable as its contents are magnificent... A triumph of indomitability and a masterwork of literary accomplishment

Deftly translated by Sandra Smith, this is possibly the most devastating indictment of French manners and morals since Madame Bovary, as hypnotic as Proust at the biscuit tin, as gruelling as Genet on the prowl. Irène Nemirovsky is, on this evidence, a novelist of the very first order, perceptive to a fault and sly in her emotional restraint

An heroic attempt to write a novel about a nightmare in which the author is entirely embedded

Read this haunting novel, then read [Nemirovsky’s] letters in this edition to feel the full force of the work

While marked by poppy wearing and memorial ceremonies, the First World War is also sustained through family history, handed down from one generation to the next. No book better articulates the impact of this narrative than Stephen Faulks’ Birdsong.

A truly amazing read

I’d never read such descriptive literature, and couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about what I’d just read. His [Faulks] portrayal of terror on the battlefield is so powerful

My all-time favourite book