"Davies writes with an intensity which is simultaneously disturbing and exhilarating; her prose has a marvellous lyricism."
"Times Literary Supplement " 'Stevie Davies's latest novel, her 12th, is charged with sensitivity to the otherness of the past [...] and her social comedy breathes life into an oppressive world. [...] Awakening burns with anger against the abuses of the past, ... Read morewhile recognising that the present has no right to condescend.' Helen Dunmore, The Guardian 'George Eliot would be impressed.' The Historical Novel Society 'Davies weaves this intricate web of faltering, painful relationships with great skill and writes very powerfully and movingly about the subtle half-tones and tentativeness of love, of childbirth, of loss as well as the horribly intrusive shock of male Victorian medical practice towards women.' The Independent 'You leave these pages feeling more fully conscious of yourself and the world around you than you did when you began them. What more can you ask for from a book?' Wales Arts Review Show Less