Queen of raw family romances

Catherine Cookson is an icon; without her influence, I and many other authors would not have followed in her footsteps.

Humour, toughness, resolution and generosity are Cookson virtues . . . In the specialised world of women's popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory

Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals

In a novel describing one of the Western world's oldest legends, in which the gods are conspicuous by their absence, Tóibín achieves a paradoxical richness of characterisation and a humanisation of the mythological, marking House Of Names as the superbly realised work of an author at the top of his game.

A spellbinding adaptation of the Clytemnestra myth, House of Names considers the Mycenaen queen in all her guises: grieving mother, seductress, ruthless leader - and victim of the ultimate betrayal.

A haunting story, largely because Tóibín tells it in spare, resonant prose...

A Greek House of Cards... Just like Heaney at the end of his Mycenae lookout, Toibin's novel augurs an era of renewal that comes directly from the cessation of hostilities.

The book's mastery of pacing and tone affirm the writer as one of our finest at work today.

A daring, and triumphant return, to the Oresteia... bleakly beautiful twilight of the Gods.

It couldn't have been done better

A visceral reworking of Oresteia

The escalation of violence and desire for revenge has deliberate echoes of the Irish Troubles