"Beryl Bainbridge's novels are like elegant teacups that contain a strong, dark, possibly sinister but remarkable brew. Models of compression, they show us how much can be poured into a deceptively delicate vessel." --Francine Prose, The New York Times "This is a small, wise book of small prose miracles . It is a larger miracle in this way: it makes us feel we see Johnson and his friends in unexpected and unfamiliar ways which are nevertheless convincing and authentic." --Andrew Marr "Deftly brilliant . Her novel may be called According to Queeney, but it is Bainbridge's unique and acute slant on life, and death, that everywhere transforms it into the slim, packed masterpiece it is." --The Sunday Times "This is a triumph, subtle, rich and heartrending . Anything worth reading is of course worth reading twice, and this is worth reading many times.

" --The Independent on Sunday "Thought-provoking and bleakly beautiful . brilliant . Bainbridge has shown herself to be working at the peak of her form." -- The Mail on Sunday "Poignant, pierced with truth, According to Queeney reaches into the dustier realms of history, bringing vividly to life a group of remarkable personalities with all their frailties, absurdities and cruel sensitivities." --The Sunday Telegraph.