Author:Virginia Woolf,Ruth Wilson,Hermione Lee
Brought to you by Penguin.
This Penguin Classic is performed by Ruth Wilson, star of Luther, Mrs Wilson and His Dark Materials. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Hermione Lee.
To the Lighthouse is at once a vivid impressionistic depiction of a family holiday, and a meditation on marriage, on parenthood and childhood, on grief, tyranny and bitterness. For years now the Ramsays have spent every summer in their holiday home in Scotland, and they expect these summers will go on forever; but as the First World War looms, the integrity of family and society will be fatally challenged. The novel's use of stream of consciousness, reminiscence and shifting perspectives gives it an intimate, poetic essence, and at the time of publication in 1927 it represented an utter rejection of Victorian and Edwardian literary values.
(P) Penguin Audio 2020
With his customary warmth and good humour Jack tells of the many challenges that faced this idealistic young teacher
—— Choice magazineThis book makes for a perfect escape to a simpler time
—— Living NorthWry observation and heartwarming humour in equal measure
—— Alan TitchmarshOverflowing with amusing anecdotes
—— Daily ExpressAmusing adventures at the North Yorkshire village school
—— ChoiceJack Sheffield's in a class of his own
—— York PressBoth a dark thriller and a farce ... admirably objective ... I have not read an account of the immediate past that is as thorough and balanced as that produced by Pogrund and Maguire ... [they] open all the previously sealed doors that were installed to protect the fragile leader
—— Steve Richards , Literary ReviewThere are many eye popping revelations in Left Out, the definitive post mortem of the Corbyn project
—— Helen Lewis , Sunday TimesFull of good stories [and] genuine insights ... well told and instructive ... In their excellent epilogue the authors draw back the lens and offer a calm and acute analysis of the Corbyn Project
—— Philip Collins , Sunday TimesOne of the most absorbing and compulsive reads I have encountered in years ... Only by drawing on a huge range of willing sources could Pogrund and Maguire have produced such a rich narrative. It is to their immense credit that they produced such an amusing one
—— New EuropeanA must-read for any Labour supporter who wants to know more about what went on behind the scenes ... whatever your factional allegiance ... its central theme is a truthful one
—— LabourListHighly readable ... meticulously researched
—— Peter Mandelson , PoliticsHomeMaguire and Pogrund have, I am certain, spoken off the record to almost everyone who mattered on both sides of Labour's civil war ... a huge and detailed trove of revelations
—— New StatesmanExcellent
—— John Rentoul , IndependentA detailed account... [Left Out] contain[s] thoughtful observations that prompt wider questions about power and leadership, friendship and loyalty, solidarity and the capacity to engage people beyond your own camp.
—— Rachel Shabi , ProspectInventive, entertaining and utterly original
—— i NewspaperA powerful novel... Fierce and insistent, its stories continue to burn brightly long after reading
—— Irish TimesExhilarating... While As You Were may seem at first glance to be a novel about facing death, it is gloriously full of life
—— Irish IndependentEnright won the Man Booker Prize in 2007 for The Gathering and this triumphantly accomplished novel puts her in the running to do the double.
—— BooksellerOne calls this a novel but it could just as easily be a selection of short stories, each perfect of its kind… This is masterly prose… It’s a feat.
—— Melanie McDonagh , Evening StandardThis is a rich, capacious story, buoyed by tender humour.
—— Ron Charles , Washington PostIt’s Enright’s ability to capture with such wit and exactitude the multi-faceted, many-textured realities of her character’ lives that keeps the pages turning.
—— Stephanie Cross , Daily MailWith The Forgotten Waltz in 2011…Anne Enright really found her voice. She returns to it in her new novel, The Green Road.
—— The EconomistAs the book snaps shut you almost want to applaud. That’s how good The Green Road…really is.
—— Cath Turner , NudgeA beautifully observed study of motivation and memory, nuanced and funny and sad.
—— Eithne Farry, 5 stars , Daily ExpressThis is an insightful family portrait, by turns sensitive and stark, in which the challenges of modern life are tempered by moments of grace.
—— ImageA piercingly beautiful collection of set pieces about the unresolved ebb and flow of family relationships.
—— Claire Allfree, 4 stars , MetroEnright has delivered a fine work about how you can’t escape the past.
—— John Dennehy , National[A] wonderful book.
—— Woman’s WayThe novel of [Enright’s] already storied career.
—— Irish CentralWith language so vibrant it practically has a pulse, Enright makes an exquisitely drawn case for the possibility of growth, love and transformation at any age.
—— People MagazineNo-one quite matches Enright for her quality of writing, her deftness of insight.
—— Neil Stewart , CivilianThis is a captivating, spellbinding evocation of how your nearest and not-so-dearest can wreak emotional havoc.
—— PsychologiesGlitteringly good.
—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury’s MagazineThe Green Road has been receiving glowing reviews and it's easy to see why. The story, set over four decades, gives us deep insights into the five main characters, all of whom tell us something about ourselves as Irish people, and all of whom you are sorry to leave as a reader.
—— Edel Coffey , Irish IndependentEnright is the most extraordinary writer – her style is simple and honest, no gimmicks, just straight to the heart.
—— Victoria Hislop , Sainsbury’s MagazineA powerful evocation of leaving and returning home.
—— Ruth Scurr , Financial TimesMasterful.
—— Fiona Wilson , The TimesWatch out for it come Man Booker time.
—— Sunday TimesEnright captures beautifully the tensions of…forced festive gatherings, the sibling rivalry and the maternal melancholy of a woman who does not understand her feelings towards her own children.
—— Good Book GuideRichly and sensuously realised, it’s vivid with the particularity of places and people and bruisingly intelligent.
—— Tessa Hadley , GuardianEnright shows real insight and perception when it comes to family relationships. It’s a well-structured and well-paced narrative.
—— Mandy Jenkinson , NudgeWritten with raw and brutal honesty, this is one to savour.
—— Justine Carbery , Irish IndependentEnright’s writing is sharp and lucid and full of beautiful phrases and descriptions.
—— Reading MattersI love Enright’s style and the spidering out of the siblings’ lives.
—— Claire Skinner , Daily ExpressThere is beauty and darkness, hypocrisy and humility; it wouldn’t be an Irish novel without them.
—— Sarah Churchwell , New StatesmanThe Green Road, about one Irish family, confronts all that is essential: love, death, mothers and our own flawed selves. It is written with a kind of tenderness, beauty and insight that transmogrifies humdrum experience into the epiphanic and back again.
—— Arifa Akbar , IndependentBlisteringly funny and keenly perceptive.
—— Peter Kemp , Sunday TimesDeeply affecting, crackling with wit, and consistently magnificent.
—— Stephanie Cross , Daily MailA globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic portrait of Irish siblings and their difficult mother.
—— Justine Jordan , GuardianA magnificent novel about family and belonging told in stark yet sparkling prose.
—— StylistA fierce, funny, loosely woven family saga.
—— Alex Preston , Observer[A] darkly glinting novel of family life.
—— Ruth Scurr , The SpectatorA bravura example of shifting voices and perspectives, all of which benefit from Enright’s splendid prose and careful restraint.
—— Sarah Churchwell , New StatesmanEnright dissects [her character’s] foibles with warmth, wit and a bracing lack of sentimentality.
—— Simon Kuper , Financial TimesA book you don’t put down until it is finished, dragging you right into the heart of another Irish family as only Anne Enright can.
—— Keelin Shanley , Irish TimesA family saga, beginning with intense and beautifully detailed character studies.
—— Mark O'Halloran , Irish TimesI... enjoyed The Green Road for the dialogue, the clever narrative structure, and the gnarled, contemporary sense of family values.
—— Paul Durcan , Irish TimesI could not put it down. Chapter two is a masterpiece.
—— Edna O'Brien , Irish TimesStylish prose that charts the fortunes and misfortunes of this family over a period of 25 years.
—— Anne O'Neill , Irish TimesIn this brilliant, captivating novel, the poised, impossible and always disappointed matriarch Rosaleen Madigan makes life difficult for her children at a Christmas gathering.
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday ExpressFew Novelists pick apart domestic relationships with the poetry and precision of Anne Enright.
—— Claire Allfree , MetroSharp yet oh so subtle storytelling […] this is an author at the height of her formidable powers.
—— Stephen Meyler , RTE GuideAn exquisitely written portrait of a family, and a country, on the cusp of enormous change.
—— Paul Nolan , Hot PressExquisitely written and hugely enjoyable.
—— NationalA brilliant approach to the sadness of a disconnected family, who are like satellites out of sync.
—— Anthony Cummins , Sunday TelegraphEnright’s virtuosic tale of an Irish family- the Madigans- across continents and decades withholds closure but doesn’t skimp on pleasure
—— five stars , Daily TelegraphA compelling novel, full of astute observations, beautifully written, sometimes stark and other times aching with longing
—— Collette Sheridan , Irish ExaminerThe sweep of the book and Anne Enright's way fo pulling this global migratuon story together with such energy and detail puts her in somewhere beside Toni Morrison
—— Independent, IrelandHeart-wrenching novel… The surgical precision of Enright’s writing makes you feel that she can, in Wordsworth’s words, “see into the life of things”. There is a singing simplicity to it that tugs at your heart…A masterly work.
—— Christina Patterson , Sunday TimesBeautifully observed. Enright is a great writer.
—— William Leith , Evening StandardBold and brilliant.
—— The WeekIncredible… I’m totally captivated.
—— Annie Mac , The Sunday TimesAn evocative story about family ties and belonging.
—— Western Morning NewsA brilliant read.
—— Western Morning NewsA story of fracture and family, selfishness and compassion.
—— SheerLuxe.comSharply funny portrait of an Irish family meeting for a final Christmas.
—— MetroWithin pages I was wrapped in the warmth of Enright’s prose… This is a beautiful book… Enright is unquestionably a fantastic writer who, for me with this novel, conjured up the world of a family with all its highs and lows that felt like they might be having this reunion down the end of your road… Enright does two of my favourite things in fiction. She makes the ordinary, and everything we take for granted, seem extra ordinary. She also gives voices to those who have not been able to share their tales… The writing is stunning.
—— Simon Savidge , Savidge ReadsAn evocative story about family ties and belonging. Anne Enright is deservedly a well-respected writer.
—— Western Morning NewsEnright's novels are fantastically well-crafted, eloquent and funny… Each character is beautifully realized… She finds unexpected adjectives, brilliantly exact description, the spot-on emotion. Her writing is lyrical but always unsentimental. There is pleasure in reading every paragraph, and an enormous wisdom throughout the pages.
—— MumsnetTruly wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant… It completely envelops you in the story and will leave you wanting more.
—— Belfast Telegraph MorningWonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant, capturing all the barbed snappiness of dinner with siblings.
—— HeraldI fell headfirst into the beautifully written prose of this novel, so authentic and charming in its telling of one Irish family over more than two decades. Each vibrant character gets a turn in almost short stories of their own that feel almost like entities in their own right. I adored it.
—— Cathy Levy , Red OnlineA resonant, masterly work.
—— Sunday Times[An] exceptional novel.
—— David Nicholls , GuardianThis is a flawless book, it’s utterly flawless… It has just touched so many other readers. This book is heartbreaking… A beautiful examination of unhappy families… The power of Anne’s writing is you all see a reflection of your own family…it’s tender and it’s beautiful and deserves to be widely read.
—— Victoria SadlerEnright is undoubtedly one of our most prominent novelists
—— Elif Shafak , WeekA delicious page-turner
—— New ScientistA gripping novel with a satisfying conclusion
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily MirrorThe Testamnets is a cracking sequel to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and a timely warning about the lengths to which a patriarchal culture will go to control female sexuality
—— Alison Flood , Sunday TelegraphA superb and suspenseful expose of misogyny and the moral ambiguity at the heart of a fanatical regime
—— Martin Chilton, Olivia Petter and Ceri Radford , Independent, *Books of the Decade*[A] rare combination of a rollicking thriller with major political nous told one of our greatest living writers. Essential
—— Den of Geek, *Books of the Year*An era-defining masterpiece
—— Waterstones.comThe Testaments… lived up to the hype
—— Anne Carter , Daily Express, *Books of the Year*Superbly written and masterfully constructs the regime of Gilead more than its predecessor was able to
—— Will Evans , ExeposeThe extraordinary Margaret Atwood... she's fabulous'
—— Hillary Clinton , Stylist[A] compelling story
—— Jane Shilling , Daily MailAtwood's sequel shines with all the acuity and brilliance of the original, whilst continuing the story with flair and modern insight
—— Alice Manning , NouseThere is no language I could use to express the emotion and beauty behind Margaret Atwood's words. Her work takes you on a journey of emotion - whether you are ready to fight, be kind, be vulnerable, stay strong or simply be, she takes you there
—— Elisabeth MossThrilling, a meditation on courage which asks us to consider what our own response might be were we forced to choose between meek complicity and rebellion at risk of death
—— Madeleine Davies, Church TimesShe's taken our times and made us wise to them
—— Ali SmithInspiring and deeply disturbing
—— Nicola Sturgeon