‘Reading a Penelope Fitzgerald novel is like being taken for a ride in a peculiar kind of car. Everything is of top quality – the engine, the coachwork and the interior all fill you with confidence. Then, after a mile or so, someone throws the steering-wheel out of the window.’ Sebastian Faulks ‘Wise and ironic, funny and humane, Fitzgerald is a wonderful, wonderful writer.’ David Nicholls ‘A book which delights, amuses, disturbs and provokes reflection, in equal measure. It is a triumph of craftmanship, intelligence and sensibility.’ Scotsman ‘Contains more wit, intelligence and feeling than many novels three times its length.’ Observer ‘Formidable… no writer is more engaging than Penelope Fitzgerald.’ Spectator ‘Penelope Fitzgerald writes books whose imaginative wholeness and whose sense of what language can suggest is magical. Whichever way you twist the lens of this kaleidoscopic book, you see fresh things freshly.’ Evening Standard ‘The book is short and full of activity. The story moves swiftly in unexpected directions. It is inspiring, funny and touching.’ LRB ‘Gilbert could have written this and Sullivan set it to music. It shows an Edwardian university at Cambridge at its eccentric best. There are so many characters that are a delight. So many foibles and so much fancifying. Fitzgerald is the only author I know who regularly gets reviews pleading her to write longer books.’ Daily Mail

Beautiful reissue of this wonderful Fitzgerald backlist title, shortlisted for the 1991 Booker Prize Part of extensive re-packaging of all Fitzgerald's backlist. Competition: A.S. Byatt, Rose Tremain

• Penelope Fitzgerald is one of the most acclaimed British novelists of the twentieth century. She was awarded the Booker Prize in 1979, and shortlisted another three times. Her fans include David Nicholls, Jonathan Franzen, A S Byatt and Sebastian Faulks. • Part of a major reissue programme of Penelope Fitzgerald’s novels and non-fiction, to coincide with Hermione Lee’s biography of Fitzgerald, published in the same month. • Packaged with a beautiful and modern look, with new introductions for all titles from Penelope Fitzgerald’s literary admirers, including Julian Barnes, Alan Hollinghurst and Simon Callow.