RaveThe Guardian...slight in scope and execution, but mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth … From these two reticent characters, besieged by two lifetimes of regret, doubt and dismay, Grenville manufactures an extraordinary comedy of manners, made all the more powerful by her own reticence as a writer. Her key atmosphere, a little like that of Alan Bennett, is one of awkwardness … The novel proceeds by stealth, its multiple gambits never developed into full-blown plot machinations. Slowly, things happen, characters both major and minor shift into position and secrets are revealed, but there is a marked lack of brashness and authorial business.
