Peterpan

'...this is a saga with a difference...such invigorating little drops of satire'

Sunday Times

...'it is a model of how this sort of thing should be done.'

Daily Telegraph

Vainglory is a sumptious tale of obsessive love, chivalry and ambition, set in fifteenth-century France, centred upon the beautiful Chateau Gloriole and five turbulent generations of its lords and ladies.

Jonathan Cape

'Definitely adult fun, the writing gutsy, vivid and economical, the observation shrewd... an exceptionally well written, spirit-lifting good read,'

Independent on Sunday

'Written in a brisk,concrete, yet elegant style, the sort of prose that would be a pleasure to read for its own sake'.

Guardian

'If Geraldine McCaughrean's proficiency as a storyteller can be encapsulated in a single talent, it is her ability to create a strong and distinct atmosphere in everything she writes.'

Times Educational Supplement

'....a perfectly balanced combination of humour and pathos, imbuing the romance with her own spectacular verbal image.'

Lindsay Fraser, Sunday Herald.

'This book's strength lies in the poetry of McCaughrean's language, the period flavour and the elaborate humour (successfully translated against the odds) and, not least, all those nose jokes'.

Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times.

'...insights of narrative are set like diamonds in gold. In a plot full of twists of circumstance and delightful and appalling surprise.'

The Tablet

'In a strong, fast flowing narrative... she brings the 1790's vibrantly to life...entrancing.'

Daily Telegraph

Lovesong is an outstanding historical saga, at once a gripping narrative and provoking novel of ideas... a massive landscape full of extraordinary characters in a world shaped by art, religion and war

Richard Cohen Books

The most romantic story ever told. 'The course of true love never did run smooth'. Especially for Cyrano, cursed with a monstrosity of a nose, and in love with Roxanne, the most beautiful woman in town. This beautifully told version of Cyrano's story will touch the heart of anyone who believes in the power of true love.

Oxford University Press

The Maypole is a bewitching love story, drawn from the old tradition and lustily retold. It tells of a fated passion, of loves betrayed and yet, ultimately redeemed, of desire transfigured.

Secker & Warburg

Both adventure and love story, Fires Astonishment is violent and tender, utterly beguiling.
Subtly witty, a fast moving, multi-stranded story whose resolution is uncertain to the very last moment

Secker & Warburg

'Probably the best historical novel I have ever read'

Philippa Gregory, Sunday Times

'McCaughrean... is well on her way to becoming one of the few great novelists to adorn our age.'

David Hughes, Mail on Sunday

Is an extraordinary novel about the ordinary spiralling out of control. McCaughrean brings 1790's England vividly to life, her unique humour and powers of characterisation evoking a hardyesque back drop to a timeless drama.

Richard Cohen Books