Baricco has produced a work of miraculously spun sugar, at which many people will gasp in admiration

* Spectator *

This is a novel driven by the pleasure of narrative. Unburdened by a single perspective, the writing is ethereal

* Telegraph *

Baricco is an exemplary storyteller . . . [he] shows a Bertolucci-like, chair-hopping, gesticulating sense of sheer joy, that turns this tragic tale into a bittersweet tragi-comedy

* Time Out *

Extraordinary

* Independent *