The Romantics looks to Flaubert's Sentimental Education, to E.M. Forster, to Turgenev. But it is the product of a distinctive and sharp intelligence

A sensitive and introspective novel . . . a meditation on hope and failure. Mishra's evocations of Indian landscape and customs are vivid and thoughtful; his prose clean and unhampered and his descriptive passages to be savoured

Contemporary India is brought to vigorous, thrumming life in the pages of The Romantics

If you buy one literary novel this year, make sure it's this

This bright new star is the real thing

[A]n intriguing combination of casual grace and emotional intensity, peppered with discreet social comment on caste, class, sectarian strife, the state of the nation . . . a charming debut

A work of art, a first novel of the highest achievement...a writer whose work will last. Read it and find yourself at the source of something great

A first novel of astonishing maturity

[An] extraordinary debut novel . . . a supernova

Mishra's lyrical descriptions . . . and the depth of culture the region offers, is a haunting reminder of India's power to bewitch

Grip[s] the reader as artfully and as compellingly as the first page of A Passage to India

If much of cosmopolitan Indian writing has valorized the immigrant and the foreign land, then The Romantics is a celebration of the home and its forgotten world

A voice that fuses the lapidary precision of Flaubert with the meditative lyricism of Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, a voice that's alternately wry and ruminative, meticulous and expansive

Many treasures in this brilliant novel

Pankaj Mishra writes the most perfect prose of any Indian novelist of his generation

Mishra's eye is sharp, his prose flawless

[A] surprisingly assured, provocatively balanced meditation on the familiar culture flash

A truly ambitious attempt to compare the way people in the East and the West dream . . . Delicate and subtly tantalising in the way only a book can really be

It is almost as if when everyone is flashing De Beers diamonds, Mishra traps the quiet luminescence of the moonstone in his theme and style

Mishra's writing has a lovely potency . . . subtly layered and compelling

Impressive . . . The Romantics turns its back on the exotic richness and the "teeming" panoramic quality which we readily assume to be expressive of Indianness itself

A first novel whose achievement is something that most writers could be proud of at any stage in their careers

Another brilliant tale from best-selling author Jane Fallon

Brilliant

PRAISE FOR JANE FALLON

Another Fallonesque treat. Full of heart, humour and humanity. She's so good at tapping into the best and the worst in us. Fabulous

Funny, insightful, sharp, wicked, brilliant

Intelligent, edgy and witty

We adore Jane Fallon's novels, and this witty page-turner could be her best yet

Ingenious. Her eye for detail, compressed emotion and the absurdity that lurks beneath what people say to each other, is unerring. One of our very finest comic novelists

I LOVE her books. She always delivers a fabaliss read

A romcom with attitude

Jane Fallon is cool as f***

Ingenious . . . This is one book you can't miss out on. Moriarty has an extraordinary talent. Thrilling

There is not a word wasted. I could not put it down

The ending is witty and satisfying, but comes with a dark twist. Apples Never Fall is another enjoyable offering full of intrigue, suspense and surprises, sure to delight

Praise for Liane Moriarty

Wise, honest, beautifully observed. One of the few writers I'll drop anything for

Staggeringly brilliant, literally unputdownable

Keeps you guessing until the very end - perfect summer read

Moriarty writes vividly, wittily and wickedly

Straight-from-life characters, knife-sharp insight and almost unbearable suspense will have you racing through it

As brilliantly accomplished as it is dark, twisty and compulsive

A hell of a good book. Funny and scary

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

It would be easy to compare Straub to other masters of the genre like Meg Wolitzer or Jennifer Egan, but she's already a master in her own right

Emma Straub is such a funny and brilliant writer and this time-travelling tale is a charming exploration of what it would be like to find yourself younger and surrounded by the people you love when they're still at the height of their power

Wise and often hilarious

Readers will devour this witty and warmly satisfying novel

A precise and observant writer whose supple prose carries the story along without a snag. Straub's characters are a quirky and interesting bunch . . . it's a pleasure spending time with them

Devilishly observed

Sprinkled with humour and insight

Straub is consistently excellent