The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock

Hotly anticipated... a bold, sumptuous doorstopper... Gowar has created a dazzlingly original novel, full of heady pleasures and shot through with the kind of irreverent humour you might expect to find in Georgian London. She's succeeded in creating a fully-realised world that you want to get lost in. But what's most refreshing is that she gives all the best lines to women. * Evening Standard * A sumptuous historical novel... It was an absolute pleasure to lose myself in this beautifully written Georgian adventure Roll up, roll up, a true wonder is on display: a mermaid magicked out of words. The author of this debut set in Georgian London gulled me, by the zest of her writing and sustained authorial slight of hand, into forgetting for a second that they do not exist... Imogen Hermes Gowar delights in the feminine fakery of mermaids, but as a writer she is the real deal. -- Hermione Eyre, author of Viper Wine * Guardian * From the first page of this dazzling debut novel, you are pitched into a sumptuously detailed adventure set in the bustle and swagger of 18th century London... The result is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel, its brilliantly drawn characters driven by heady and dangerous desires.***** * Sunday Express * A cracking historical novel - with a twinge of the surreal - about passion and obsession, dreams and reality... The story is by turns intriguing, touching, funny, sad and heartwarming. It will make you laugh and it may make you cry. Mostly, though, the cast of endlessly engaging characters will keep you turning the pages until you get to the wholly satisfying ending... The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is superb. * The Times *