Compulsive reading . . . rich, strange, beautiful - Helen Macdonald, author of H IS FOR HAWKDazzlingly inventive, compelling - Jane CaseyExquisite - Liz Nugent, author of UNRAVELLING OLIVERThe Maker of Swans combines through-the-looking-glass enchantment with Nabokovian dexterity, and is also a sly and insightful commentary on the powers and weakness of artists. O'Donnell has written a mesmerizing book whose prose absolutely soars - Sandra Newman, author of THE COUNTRY OF ICE CREAM STARParaic O'Donnell has entertained us for the past year or so with his wit and imagination. I can't wait to read him at greater lengthParaic O'Donnell's writing is welcoming but rigorous, potent but funny. I read him with a combination of envy and gratitudeThe prose [has] a sense beyond cleverness of something with a life of its own, something poignant yet barbed and at the same time playfulI devoured this book and it kept me guessing right to the very end . . . Line by line, Paraic's writing contains some of the most beautifully turned phrasing I've read in a long while - Laura Barnett, author of THE VERSIONS OF US