The most ambitious and daring novel novel yet from Booker Prize-shortlisted Philip Hensher. ‘A novel that's almost fizzy to the touch … A performance of extraordinary flair and majesty from a writer who seems capable of anything’ Guardian

‘A novel that is always a joy to read … Read it and allow yourself to become a better person’ Independent ‘Important … Glorious … He might have the iconoclastic temperament of a Kandinsky, but he is an old master when he glimpses the cat asleep under the table or the curve of a woman’s neck’ The Times ‘A glittering performance … “The Emperor Waltz” has the depth and pleasurable density of a 19th-century fiction; I loved it’ Ian Thomson, Evening Standard ‘Splendidly thought out and extraordinarily readable’ A S Byatt, Guardian 'A generous, courageous firework of a novel – a Roman candle, alive and fizzing in the hand' New Statesman ‘A book as joyful as its musical source … “The Emperor Waltz” is a beautiful book, both profound and funny. It is a powerful invocation to live a life of joy, surrounded by true friends’ Telegraph

• Philip Hensher is one of our most respected British authors. This book is a return, in scale – length and breadth – to Philip’s Booker-shortlisted ‘The Northern Clemency’ (TCM 73,500). • It received absolutely incredible press on HB publication, and established itself as one of THE literary novels to read alongside THE GOLDFINCH (330,000) and THE MINIATURIST (45,000). • Philip is internationally acclaimed and published in many languages. Competition: Cloud Atlas; Cloud Atlas; Undermajordomo Minor; All For Nothing; 1606; Lady Oracle. Donna Tartt;Patrick deWitt; Walter Kempowski; James Shapiro; Margaret Atwood; Jenny Erpenbeck;