"Perhaps the art of Melania’s deal is that she has a rip-roaring eastern European sense of humour and is one step ahead of all of us...."

"Kleeman approaches her subject with a winning scepticism..."

"...Martyn, the difficult musical visionary, thoroughly deserves this painstaking and eloquent biography..."

"a biography brimming with colour and insight that brings both the character of the man and his many achievements vividly to life..."

"Campbell’s book is not a biography, but rather an act of homage to a man for whom he asserts lifelong admiration: he has been visiting Cloan since boyhood...."

"a punchy but self-aggrandising memoir..."

"a courageous memoir about the challenges of caring for a father suffering from schizophrenia..."

"Edna O’Brien is steeped in the work of Joyce and brings her understanding of a writer’s life to her portrait of James and Nora..."

" A Silent Fury is his chance to right a historical wrong, to honour a memory ..."

"a frequently fascinating assortment of Nabokov’s hitherto uncollected, untranslated and even unpublished materials..."

"its ravishing execution is testament to how fine a writer she became..."

"a terrifying insight into what it’s like to be a refugee ..."

"a wild, raucous history of courtiers' miserable lives..."

"The life and imagination of a transformative cultural figure..."

"shows every sign of having been composed in a tearing hurry..."

"This book has the more poetic apparatus of a quest..."

"a fine grief memoir by the daughter of Sixties textile designer Bernat Klein..."

"This is a book that should be in every school, and probably handed out in every place of worship, too...."

"a flowing, thoroughly enjoyable introduction to the life as a lived and passionate thing..."

" Hamilton’s narrative masterfully sets the scene, establishes the cast and describes the action..."

"Daniel Smith tells the story of Boothby, the Krays and Goodman in a rollicking tone that carries conviction and reads well..."

"This is a captivating account of a life lived with resilience and grace...."

"Honest, moving and funny..."

"His text might best serve as a crib, much superior to the hundred-year-old Loeb, for those who want to give the original a try..."

"Talley likens fashion to war; his story is one of survival..."

"This memoir by an author who always told the truth has echoes of David Sedaris..."

"A compelling exploration of the intimate and political sides of an itinerant life..."

"Mrs Escobar is a memoir written in somebody else’s shadow – mostly, it seems, to settle scores, and clear her old name...."

"She has given Ramsey the biography that he richly deserves..."

"The sheer range provides evidence of wide culture and linguistic versatility, both of which are lightly worn here..."