a shrewd exploration of the modern-day late-quarter-life crisis...her signature wit is sharp as ever here. [Crosley] is startlingly good at portraying comically awful characters who would seem cartoonish if they weren't also so recognizable...Crosley is an incisive observer of human nature in general and of a generation in particular - people circling the age of 30 who foster undue fondness for the retro culture of their youth...For all its humor, Crosley's prose is equally sharp in delineating her character's despair...in this highly comic, highly affecting novel The New York Times [Crosley's] prose is the literary equivalent of a light-as-air souffle, made from recipes by Candace Bushnell and a young Donna Tartt...consistently witty...a real comic talent Independent on Sunday [Crosley's] prose is the literary equivalent of a light-as-air souffle, made from recipes by Candace Bushnell and a young Donna Tartt...consistently witty...a real comic talent Independent on Sunday An entertaining homage to Maupassant...There is barely a page of the novel that doesn't glitter with some nugget of wit or wisdom Guardian to describe [The Clasp] as a list of its parts does this intelligent, charming book a disservice. Its fast-paced, eventful plot is layered over a warm and insightful look at the intricacies of adult friendship The Bookseller