Author:Dilly Court
The Thames carried him away from her, but would it bring him home...?
Twelve-year-old Eliza Bragg has known little in life but the cold, comfortless banks of the Thames. Living above her uncle's chandlery she has grown accustomed to a life of penury and servitude, her only comfort the love and protection of her older brother, Bart.
But one day Bart accidentally kills a man and is forced to flee to New Zealand. Alone, barefoot, beaten down and at the mercy of her cruel uncle, Eliza realises that her very survival is at stake...
This is a wonderful book from a brilliant new writer
—— Bournemouth Daily EchoA real page-turner, a family story that is multi-layered just as you'd expect from Lesley Pearse, who is deservedly one of the world's favourite story tellers
—— My WeeklyA gripping new novel
—— HELLO! MagazinePraise for Lesley Pearse
—— -Heart-warming and evocative, a real delight to read
—— SunA narrative that gallops along, this is quintessential Pearse that will delight her army of readers
—— Daily MailGlorious, heartwarming
—— Woman & HomeEvocative, compelling, told from the heart
—— Sunday ExpressJoyous and inspiring
—— Cosy Books BlogHer heart-warming storytelling drew me in until before I knew it I’d finished the book in a single sitting
—— Shaz’s Book BlogIt’s a heart-warming story of love and trust through good times and bad.
—— MojomumsHis prose is just as often a pleasure, bursting with colour and texture… The result stands as Rushdie’s most vital book in years, and perhaps the first protest novel of the Trump era.
—— Stephen Phelan , HeraldA typically bold and all-encompassing saga.
—— Hilary A White , Irish IndependentRushdie is, as ever, excellent in conveying bitter, personal anger.
—— DJ Taylor , Literary ReviewTwo decades after Rushdie transplanted himself to the US, one of the major pleasures of this novel is the way in which he considers the mores of the one per cent of the one per cent. Rushdie writes about the Goldens’ glittering, private world with innumerable perfect details, down to the art hanging on the walls… It will be a long four years, but fictional protests are unlikely to be as electric as this.
—— Olivia Cole , GQHugely entertaining… Told against a backdrop of American politics and culture between Obama’s inauguration and the 2016 presidential election, it’s an extraordinarily powerful tale of our times.
—— Sue Price , Saga Magazine
[The Golden House] is a recognizably Rushdie novel in its playfulness, its verbal jousting, its audacious bravado, its unapologetic erudition, and its sheer, dazzling brilliance.
The Golden House is a searing examination of modern America and the world around it since 2008… Through the density of his intermingling literary references, puzzles and (deliberately) fanciful plot, comes Rushdie's true success: His great ability to capture the devilish mood of post-crash greed, political upheaval, and the rejection of the cosmopolitan, liberal west.
—— Peter Carey , Belfast Telegraph MorningRushdie’s prose is beyond much reprieve—there are few contemporary artists who come to mind that possess his ability to craft sentences. In this regard, The Golden House, his latest novel, is no exception... The Golden House is a joy to read… It’s hard to not have fun reading writing at Rushdie’s level of craftsmanship. It’s clever, intimidating, jocund, and electrifying.
—— Chicago Review of BooksThe Golden House is not Brideshead or Gatsby – it is too rich and too riotous. Rather it is a modern Bonfire of the Vanities, New York seen from the inside and the outside, as only a writer of multiple selves such as Rushdie – Indian, British, now a New Yorker – could do.
—— Aminatta Forna , GuardianRushdie’s story is a morality tale which unfolds with great verve and erudition, missing no opportunity to pillory Donald Trump with its withering contempt.
—— Richard Hopton , Country & Town HouseNo-one spins a yarn like Rushdie, and The Golden House’s tale of bastard sons, mysterious men and submerged pasts is hugely enjoyable… To say The Golden House is 'only' hugely enjoyable is a little like writing 'only' on a cheque for £1 million.
—— Ross McIndoe , SkinnySalman Rushdie has garaged the magic carpets and dived deep into 21st-century America, with its concerns about identity, guns, the 1 percent and even superheroes.
—— Jane Henderson , Miami HeraldIt couldn't have been done better
—— ScotsmanA visceral reworking of Oresteia
—— ObserverThe escalation of violence and desire for revenge has deliberate echoes of the Irish Troubles
—— Observer Books of the Year