A witty novel as well as a beautiful one . . . a source of wonder and delight - Hilary Mantel, Sunday TimesSparkling and lavishly detailed . . . rich without being cloying; resonant of time and place while remaining fresh and modern . . . he captures brilliantly the downfall and partial redemption of this charming isolate - The TimesFull-bodied yet razor-sharp . . . his writing is as dextrous as Casanova's love-making. Lie back and enjoy it - Katie Grant, Spectator[A] glittering confection of 18th-century moeurs . . . The Hogarthian background is vividly drawn and spotlit by tiny details. - Independent on SundayMiller paints a perfectly crafted picture of 18th-century London and its visiting predator in language as delicate as the tendrils of fog that curl off the Thames, and as forceful as the fetid odours conjured up in the background. - The TimesMiller's prose is jewelled . . . What Casanova wrote with a swagger resurfaces here as an elegant, elegiac, meditation on the death of purpose - David Coward, Times Literary SupplementExquisite . . . laced with luxurious imagery and wry humour - Stephanie Merritt, Daily TelegraphMiller is a pellucid, evocative writer: he brings alive the thick fogs over the Thames, the dreary winter countryside, the lamp-lit London streets. - Observer