Alys, Always

A marvellous novel. I absolutely adored it... So subtle, funny, tender and so miraculously observed... Utterly brilliant -- Jilly Cooper Unsettling, unfussy and unputdownable -- David Baddiel A clever and original story by an amusing and interesting new novelist -- Nina Bawden Unputdownable -- Jenni Murray * Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4 * Hugely enjoyable debut about 30-something Frances Thorpe, a lowly sub-editor on the books pages of a Sunday paper who suddenly and unexpectedly comes into contact with the family of a Man Booker prize-winning author - and there sees an opportunity. Barbara Vine-esque stuff * THE BOOKSELLER * If I could have a novel made to order; like a Savile Row suit, it would probably be this one... Superbly, even poetically written with an almost feverish hyper-realism, this All About Eve for our times misses no telling detail of the difference between the entitled and unentitled classes... A brilliant idea, brilliantly realised. I loved it, I loved it. I've run out of superlatives and all that remains to say is that I wish I was you; I wish I hadn't read it and had that pleasure to come -- Wendy Holden * DAILY MAIL * Harriet Lane's Alys, Always is a superbly disquieting psychological thriller...Lane is a formidable wordsmith, and the literary world is conjured up in all its delicious, gossipy hierarchy...Mordantly funny, yet chilling, this tale of an ordinary woman inveigling her way into a position of power is compulsive reading -- Leyla Sanai * THE SPECTATOR * this novel begins with a bang and delivers all sorts of surprises, but also manages some acute and moving observations about bereavement and grief. A very fine debut. Lane works out her dramatic premise with great originality -- Kate Saunders * THE TIMES * Wonderfully observed... Lane has her landscape forensically mapped. This is a gripping, psychologically complex achievement, whose greatest success is the lingering sense of unease -- Sheena Joughin * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * This chilling and accomplished debut is in classic Ruth Rendell territory. Crucially, the author knows the trick of what to leave out, and of how to tantalise...Frances finds herself admitted to the inner sanctum of London literary life, about which the author, who knows whereof she writes, is most amusing... Lovely, sensuous prose -- Rachel Hore * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY * Harriet Lane's exceptional first novel matches the twisted motivations of Sophie Hannah to the social satire of Amanda Craig's A Vicious Circle. In Frances she has created a character Daphne du Maurier might have been proud of: vulnerable, manipulative, resourceful, chippy, but one of us -- Adrian Turpin * FINANCIAL TIMES * Harriet Lane's take on contemporary class is so sharply observed that it becomes almost satirical: the perennial theme of social climbing gets a superb new treatment in her highly entertaining, slightly chilling tale of a cuckoo in the nest * THE SUNDAY TIMES * Frances is a fascinating creation: determined, deceitful, intriguingly complex and believably drawn...This deeply unsettling but eminently readable story is one that will linger in the memory * THE OBSERVER * Lane's narrative voice is captivating, absorbing the reader almost immediately and throughout the novel's various episodes of entanglement, separation and high drama...and her characters are quirky and believable individuals. Alys, Always is a fine portrayal of how people deal with loss and learn to accept "the tinpot vulnerability of human existence" -- Kirsty Hewitt * TLS * this book really is that rarest of creatures, a sort of literary unicorn: a stunning debut... The writing is tight, it's compulsively readable and brilliantly controlled. Harriet Lane has a deft economy when it comes to recording scenes descriptions and dialogue. It is utterly believable in all respects -- Rachel Johnson * THE LADY * Dark, cynical and unpredictable * SUNDAY EXPRESS * A gripping debut.

Harriet Lane has worked as an editor and staff writer at TATLER and the OBSERVER. She has also written for the GUARDIAN, the TELEGRAPH and VOGUE. She lives in north London. www.harrietlane.co.uk