RaveNPR... the sweetness, the innocence of Piranesi\'s love for this world is devastating to read. Clarke\'s writing is clear, sharp — she can cleave your heart in a few short words. In these brief but gut-wrenchingly tender interactions we are felled by the loneliness Piranesi can\'t fully grasp. The concept is gone from his mind of what he longs for the most ... This crossing of realms — the magical and scientific; the mystical and profane — in both Jonathan Strange and Piranesi is an alluring combination. As if Marie Curie meets Cleopatra on Mary Anning\'s beach. The mystery of Piranesi unwinds at a tantalizing yet lightening-like pace — it\'s hard not to rush ahead, even when each sentence, each revelation makes you want to linger ... Humans seek connection and knowledge — but how do we define those quests? How do we approach those paths? Both worlds in this enthralling, transcendent novel come with magic and reason, beauty and warmth, danger and destruction. However ill-gotten, Piranesi has achieved an equilibrium, a delicate peace with the contradictions of pain and love. How do we do the same? How do we bear the pain of our limits, and what must we give up to survive?
Sophie Hannah
RaveNPRIt\'s a revelation to discover that Catchpool is more than a device, a surrogate for the reader. His perceptions — which Poirot so often dismisses, only to accept later — are an integral part of the masterful and multi-layered puzzle Hannah has created, adding a new dimension to a much-loved series.
Alix Nathan
PositiveNPRThe Warlow Experiment is the dark side of the manor house, a microcosmic exploration of a system where one person, by accident of birth, controls the fate of many. Herbert Powyss is not evil, but entitlement does flow through his veins ... Through him, Nathan shows how even a seemingly benevolent master can ruin lives as easily as he breathes. That underneath Moreham House\'s tables of sweet tarts and orange jellies, its Apulian vases and espaliered pear trees, its books of classical ideals and natural philosophy, there is the life of a servant or laborer, that of a mother or child, inextricably run down and destroyed. The system of entitlement is too entrenched and even revolution, large or small, can\'t save them. What is lurking beneath Herbert Powyss\' house? Exactly what we feared.
Jennifer Ryan
RaveNPRThat\'s the beauty of Ryan\'s work: She treats angry, scraping characters such as Mrs. Braithwaite...with the care their own deep wounds desperately need ... This is a crisp and energetic book, a suspense story that explores our darker sides without drowning us. Ryan\'s use of language is grippy and plosive. There\'s just the right amount of tutting, snapping, clasping, grasping, sneering and snarling that, along with a tight plot, keep a reader gladly bouncing along. What truly stands out is the underlying tone of joy in Ryan\'s writing; there\'s warmth and care even in the darkest moments. Ryan has delivered a suspense story with high stakes, but nothing drops to sinister or degrading. It\'s a refreshing and rare quality when you\'ve had enough of nonstop grim headlines, or other suspense novels that mine depravity to seize readers\' attention. Rather, Shilling Lane gives us characters we all long to believe in; it tells us there is redemption and forgiveness in the world, that people do learn from their mistakes and make amends.
