“Morrall’s ability to plot the destruction and reshaping of Kitty’s mysteries, while still plausibly unpacking her character, is nothing short of stupendous. Astonishing Splashes of Colour is a brave and startling book, tinted, shaded, and stained like life itself.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer
“Beautifully subtle…. It draws the reader in page after page.”
—Boston Globe
“Compelling…. Morrall is a sure, sharp writer, and she understands the single-minded nature of grief.”
—Newsday
“Propulsive and compelling…. A gripping [story].”
—New York Times Book Review
“An extraordinary, gripping novel written with no sentimentality. A wonderful piece of writing.”
—Professor John Carey, Chair of the Man Booker Prize
“At her very first attempt, Morrall has written a genuinely solid and satisfying work of fiction, skillfully plotted and fielding a cast of fully realized and individualized characters. More, please.”
—Sunday Times (London)
“Astonishing Splashes of Colour remains ‘a core of truth, suffused with a golden glow, becoming more pleasurable the more [it] wander[s].’ For even madness is not without order and logic; it has a vision and an arc of forward movement even when it’s turning in on itself.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Clare Morrall takes her title from a description of Peter Pan’s Neverland, and much of her novel contains the same dreamy, almost fantastical quality, with episodes coming in and out of focus, amid kaleidoscopic bursts of color, as the main character struggles to search for the truth about herself…. Such tragic material is lifted by the sympathetic writing of a first-time novelist confident of her material…. The story is bleak, but the colors are bright.”
—BBC News online