‘Ivy Compton-Burnett was that rare novelist who finds a form perfect for what she has to say and sticks to it… She is the cynic’s cynic, and remains deeply shocking’

Philip Hensher

‘Dark, hilarious, evil… I have all twenty of her novels and I’ve read nineteen. If I read the one that is left there will be no more Ivy Compton-Burnett for me and I will probably have to die myself’

John Waters

‘Hilarious, harrowing… [like] Jane Austen on bad drugs’

Francine Prose

‘There is no one in all this writing world even remotely like her’

Guardian

‘Absolutely sui generis… Her remorseless humor and savagery are a unique cocktail. There’s no middle ground with this novelist—you’re either bewildered by her or you become an addict’

BOMB

‘Each new novel is a fresh shock treatment – individual, complete and stunning’

New York Times Book Review