Monica Ali- Granta's 2003 Best of Young British; Brick Lane was a Sunday Times bestseller; Irvine Welsh- Trainspotting, Filth, Porno; Tony Hawks- Round Ireland with a Fridge, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, One Hit Wonderland; Victoria Glendinning- biographies of Anthony Trollope, Vita Sackville-West and Rebecca West and novels, The Grown Ups, Electricity, Flight; Jenny Colgan- best-selling chick-lit novelist including Amanda's Wedding and Looking For Andrew McCarthy. Simon Garfield- prize-winning journalist The Nation's Favourite- The True Adventures of Radio 1, Mauve, Last Journey of William Huskisson; Bill Deedes- distinguished journalist, recently author of 'At War with Waugh'; Colm Toibin- celebrated Irish author The South, The Heather Blazing, The Blackwater Lightship shortlisted for Booker; Michael Atherton- former captain of the England cricket team, bestselling autobiography Opening Up; Bella Bathurst- regular contributor to The Guardian and author of both highly acclaimed non-fiction, The Lighthouse Stevensons, and fiction, Special; Edited by Andrew O'Hagan Our Father shortlisted for Booker & Whitbread, latest novel Personality, Granta 2003 Best Young British Writer.
Thoroughly enjoyable ... a story for our times * Literary Review * Powerful ... affecting ... * TLS * An engaging read, both sharp and deep * Independent * A satisfyingly sharp and wide-ranging portrait of the steamy metropolis * Daily Telegraph *