Social, political and physical labyrinth
- Frances Osborne, Evening Standard
Satisfying... agreeably sardonic
- Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
One of the great imaginative creations in English literature
Daily Telegraph
An unadulterated delight
Independent
Rich and satisfying
- Lindsay Duguid, Sunday Times
A tour de force of literary technique, a treasure house of diligent research and imaginative ingenuity
- Jane Shilling, Telegraph
Wonderfully entertaining
- Michael Holroyd, Guardian, Books of the Year
Her feeling for the spirit of the times is triumphant
- Charlotte Moore, Spectator
A rich, glowing portrait
- Daisy Hay, Observer
Her characters laugh, cry, plot and flounder so convincingly that they take up residence in your head and refuse to go away
- Mary Crockett, Scotland on Sunday
This book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters, leavened with flourishes of lyricism and an attractive tolerance towards human frailties
- Angus Clarke, The Times
What ultimately makes the book such a joy is simply being in Merivel’s company. His narration is by turns rueful, comic, despairing and joyful; but it’s always bursting with life, always good-hearted - and always entirely loveable
- James Walton, Daily Mail
A delight
- Lucy Beresford, Literary Review
At times witty and enchanting, on other occasions full of doubt and self-loathing, <i>Merivel</i> remains a stunning achievement. He is Everyman and speaks to us all
- Virginia Blackburn, Sunday Express
Exuberance is a very hard thing to sustain in a novel… However, Tremain brings it off brilliantly. As one might expect, this is a very funny novel, full of picaresque adventure, hapless accidents and ingeniously wrought slapstick. However, it is also a very moving and beautiful novel. There are passages here which I found myself reading over and over again simply in order to savour them. <i>Merivel: A Man of His Time</i> may have been a long time coming, but it’s been well worth the wait
- John Preston, Mail on Sunday
<i>Merivel<b> </b></i>is excellent company. Writing with a mimic’s ear for conversation, whimsical one moment, grave the next, Tremain has an underlying preoccupation here: the last third of live, love and loss, loneliness and vanity
- Maggie Fergusson, Intelligent Life