«Comic fantasy is grounded in a wealth of sharp observation and psychological insight. Hollinghurst has lost none of his authority»

Evening Standard

«The Spell contains the most delicately sensuous portrait-painting...brilliant imagery...and hilarious cross-purpose jokes... Sentence by sentence the novel weaves its magic»

Independent

«A masterpiece of sustained literary titillation»

The Times

«Love, lust and loss among a group of middle-class gay Englishmen... Young and old, the town and the country, the wild and respectable: Holinghurst explores each of these uneasy conflicts with wit, generosity and sharply observed comedy»

Mail on Sunday

«A bewitchingly beautiful tale... confirms his pre-eminence among the prose writers of his generation»

Daily Telegraph