Neil Blackmore re-imagines an astounding story of gay men in London 200 years ago and under the pain of their betrayal and injustice, he uncovers loyalty and above all, love. I relished every page.

Blackmore has taken the historical facts and created an imaginative, layered, clever story that explores male desire in an intolerant time. With wit and aplomb he performed a similar trick in The Dangerous Kingdom of Love, riffing on the gay life of the polymath Francis Bacon. Radical Love confirms Blackmore as being one of the most original voices in historical fiction today.

I was staggered by this book; one of the boldest novelistic explorations of desire I have read in some time. Frighteningly prescient, it shines a light on the world-making possibilities of erotic transgression and the violence that so often comes in its wake.

Forget Bridgerton. Neil Blackmore's Radical Love give us the people of Regency England and its people as they really were; brutally intolerant, scarred by slavery, marred by oppression and social injustice. Don't look for heroes here - look for life as it's really lived, people as they really are.

A celebration of the erotic lives of long-dead gay Londoners and a lament for past persecutions, Radical Love is a powerful story of desire flourishing amid danger.

Radical Love is both a searing portrayal of love and obsession, and breathtaking in its depiction of the brutality and hypocrisy of prejudice, all told in sharp, beautiful prose. An unforgettable book.

Utterly compelling. So beautifully written, so many twists and turns and achingly sad moments where I gasped aloud. I haven't read a novel that's tugged at my heartstrings as much as this since John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies. A must-read ... I'll be thinking about it for a long time to come.

A page-turner

Full of urgent questions about individual and collective freedoms, and the writing of history...Compellingly real.

A tale of courage and survival, richly imagined and full of pitch-perfect period detail and sly wit.

A complex, thought-provoking tale, and a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the intersections of love, resistance, and the triumph of the human spirit.

Blunt, raw and unapologetically sexual, Radical Love is a story of human flaws, the dangers of both honesty and deception, and idealism in the face of cruel reality.

Holding up a lens to a 19th century existence while asking uncomfortable questions of our own times, it explores how a high price must be paid in the pursuit of love.

The perfect summer read to pack in your suitcase

A lovely, heart-warming read

A perfect read for your holiday

This is the ultimate summer seaside getaway read

For the last two days I have done nothing but read this book or think longingly about when I can return to reading this book. It's sad, and confronting, and comforting, and life-affirming all at the same time. Congrats, Catherine Newman, on an astonishing debut.

Catherine Newman sees the heartbreak and comedy of life with wisdom and unflinching compassion. The way she finds the extraordinary in the everyday is nothing short of poetry. She's a writer's writer-and a human's human.

An absolute heartbreaker of a novel. Catherine Newman's book... is a celebration of life. For anyone who has prepared a hole in their heart for loss, We All Want Impossible Things is a reminder that, in time, that hollowed hallowed space is also there for when the light and love pour back in.

How did Catherine Neman write a book about dying that is so luminously alive? Earthy, funny, and terrifyingly honest - this is a book with heart and guts and all the other goopy gravt we need to stay among the living. A radical delight.

Newman perfectly captures the beauty and burden of caring for someone in their final moments while showing the gift of Edi and Ash's once-in-a-lifetime friendship. A warm and remarkably funny book that will make readers laugh through their tears.

This is a proper laugh-out-loud tale of friendship that will utterly win your heart ... A truly special book - prepare to read this, fall in love and then hector everyone you know into reading it.

Devastatingly funny ... handled with compassion and courage in elegant prose lightened by honest humour.

We All Want Impossible Things is a thing of rare beauty: sweet and sharp, to be devoured, then remembered and loved life-long.

A celebration of friendship and family

Book of the month

Utterly life-affirming and joyful

Full of humour, warmth and eye-popping honesty ... a beautiful, candid and uplifting testament to female friendship that will make you laugh and cry

Beautiful and emotional ... heartbreakingly sad, but also full of humour and ultimately about living and love. I will recommend this to everyone.

Funny, bitter and life-affirming

This is a story about holding on, the power of creating memories and, ultimately, letting go. Tissues at the ready.

Smart dialogue and cutting wit ... an accomplished writer

A profound study of grief, love and friendship that will resonate with anyone who has lost someone special ... there are plenty of funny and touching moments in this beautiful novel that will make your heart soar.

In Newman's hands... this tale of love and friendship is tender, funny, life-affirming joy.

The most wonderful book in the way it celebrates friendship. I highly recommend it.

Impossible not to weep. Yet, we also find ourselves laughing out loud through the tears ... For all the sense of tragedy and loss, we see Ash develop renewed gratitude for the beauty and humour in even the most mundane moments of life.

Full of humour, warmth, and raw honesty ... a beautiful, uplifting testament to female friendship that will make you laugh and cry

5 stars

Unique, touching and immersive

Straub writes beautifully and amusingly . . . hard to beat for sheer charm and gentle wit

Smart and entertaining

Hugely talented . . . intelligent holiday reading

Warm and big-hearted . . . leaves you smiling for days

Straub writes with such verve and sympathetic understanding of her characters . . . Reading this novel has all the pleasures of reading one of Anne Tyler's compelling family portraits

It's the beautifully drawn, vibrant characters that make this smart, compelling novel so irresistible

A funny and insightful look at love and relationships

A smart, cool sensibility

Lovely, satisfying

Smart and fresh, offering new insights into the lives of people all around us

Thoughtful and hilarious

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