Wesley Stace is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, the international bestseller Misfortune (2005) and By George (2007). Stace is also a musician who, under the name John Wesley Harding, has released 15 albums ranging from traditional folk to pop music. The Los Angeles Times hailed his most recent pop release, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, as ""Bookshop Rock like no other... expertly tweaking the lyricist's game at every turn"" while the Wall Street Journal praised the album's ""lyrics that dazzle without condescending.""
His handling of dry comic dialogue and cynical affectation is reminiscent of P. G. Wodehouse... an intelligent, fun and thoughful piece of fiction * Independent on Sunday * Nothing in recent fiction prepared me for the power and the polish of this subtle tale of English music in the making, a chiller wrapped in an enigma * New Stateman * A tremendously imaginative novel... beneath its sparkling surface there are some very murky depths. A wonderfully disquieting read -- Sarah Waters We might have predicted that Wesley Stace - a fine novelist and a fine musician - would one day write a novel about music, but could we have predicted that it would be so brilliant? The dialogue sparkles, the prose glimmers, and for once you leave a novel not just haunted by the characters and the story, but humming the tunes. A delightful Opus 3 -- Jonathan Coe Wesley Stace is a brilliant and intensely original writer and this is his most unusual book yet -- Audrey Niffenegger