Clever, wry debut in which a young woman gets through one single day; her work interrupted by quotidian jangles, her interior self navigating a recent traumatic experience. Witty and clever ... read more
A scratched and splintered portrait (with echoes of MP's first book) of the artist's last days in Madrid, body and language failing him. He had travelled there, against doctor's advice, to v... read more
In the early 20th century an easily overlooked square in Bloomsbury was the home, at one time or another, of the modernist poet H.D., Dorothy L Sayers, the classicist Jane Harrison, the hist... read more
It's only six years since his magisterial biography of Beethoven, which seemed a lifetime's work. To do the same so quickly for Mozart seems nothing short of miraculous. NB due for publicati... read more
A sparkling, intelligent novel, first published in 1964 and just re-issued by Faber & Faber. It is set over the course of a decadent fancy dress party on a snowy New Year's Eve, with all the... read more