Ask Alice

A gripping page-turner filled with surprises, shocks and deep psychological insight

Independent on Sunday

Utterly gripping reading...you are in for a treat

Literary Review

DJ Taylor creates characters who have dynamic spirit and capture the imagination, while the story has the tension of a thriller, the sensitivity of a romance and the wit of an idiosyncratic adventure.

Easy Living

Ambitious and immensely accomplished ... above all a meditation on selfhood and memory

Guardian

A highly accomplished novel. It is engrossingly plotted, and its depiction of the vibrant decade leading to the 1929 Crash offers an interesting parallel to our own times.

Simon Humphreys, Mail on Sunday

Intelligent, absorbing and most enjoyable

Independent on Sunday

Excellent ... the impenetrable, imperturbable Alice compels

Daily Mail

Carefully constructed sets and a convincing commentary on social change

Charlotte Moore, Spectator

mesmerising novel paints pictures of many different worlds in the early 20th century...busting with detail... captivating

Books Quarterly

When on song, which he often is here, Taylor is a felicitous, intelligent writer. He sets a scene with admirable clarity, peoples it with memorable characters, and offers a plot that will keep most readers hooked and satisfied for nigh on 350 pages. These days this is rarer than you might think

Alan Taylor, The Herald

D J Taylor is remarkably under-appreciated as a novelist.

Lorna Bradbury, Telegraph

This special piece of period realism is very far indeed from being either silly or dull.

Valentine Cunningham, Independent

Taylor is excellent on the 'incidentals' - arresting tableaux abound - and the impenetrable, imperturbable Alice compels.

Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail

A plot of Victorian complexity handled with great skill

Allan Massie, The Scotsman Books of the Year