This smart and humorous novel is, from the first sentence, rapture to read. Each paragraph is crafted with a joke, insight or observation that makes you eager for more
Sunday Times CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
It wouldn’t be summer without a sun-drenched coming-of-age story, so beautifully realised in Meg Rosoff’s seductive and elegant The Great Godden. ... ... Read moreThe heady nostalgia and sweet ache of first love and lost innocence recall classics such as Bonjour Tristesse
Observer, YA BOOK OF THE MONTH
Rosoff brilliantly captures the loss of innocence on the cusp of adulthood in a dreamy, seductive coming-of-age story that echoes classics like I Capture the Castle
The Bookseller, Editor's Choice
A brilliant short book for someone looking for a thoughtful, impactful summer read… It sounds like it’s going to be the quintessential holiday romance but it’s so much more than that
Pandora Sykes, The High Low Podcast
... far too good to be monopolised by the teenage market. My advice: buy it for the young person in your life and then sneak off with it yourself
The Times CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
A wonderful, captivating writer
Daily Telegraph
Meg Rosoff has the gift of being able to talk to the reader with a directness that goes like an arrow to the heart
The Times
No one writes the way Rosoff does – as if she’s thrown away the rules. I love her fizzy honesty, her pluck, her way of untangling emotion through words
Daily Telegraph
It is only occasionally that a writer comes along with a voice so stridently pure and direct and funny that you simply can't question it - you tumble willingly into its thrall
Julie Myerson
Guardian
A wonderfully original voice
New Statesman
A magical and utterly faultless voice
Mark Haddon
Searingly well written, her books read like Samuel Beckett on Ecstasy
The Times
Like Ephron, Rosoff has a lightness of touch, and is also a clever comic writer: her dialogue is sharp, her characters keenly observed and ruthlessly well realised
The Sunday Times
The perfect read for an afternoon by the sea
NetGalley user
An irresistible summer read
NetGalley reviewer
I have never connected with a book so quickly. The atmosphere and the heady setting of summer and nostalgic longing was enticing from the first page… my heart was swept away with this book
NetGalley reviewer
I genuinely couldn’t put it down
NetGalley reviewer
A thoroughly captivating read that reels you in and won't let you go
NetGalley Reviewer
Sophisticated, seductive and smoothly readable, this is a summer story par excellence, and a coming-of-age tale for all times
LoveReading4Kids
A wonderful, escapist coming of age novel
Suffolk Magazine
A classic summer, coming-of-age story, wonderfully done… Its hazy nostalgia tempered by a winning self-awareness, The Great Godden is a joyful, generous read
Novel of the Week, Sunday Telegraph
A touching coming-of-age novel that is perfect for summertime
Sunday Express S Magazine
A dreamy, atmospheric tale about love, sibling rivalry and family secrets
Irish Independent
As a coming of age story, it hits all the right notes when tackling frustrations, loneliness and sexuality during a turbulent time
Magic Radio Book Club
This brilliant, witty, very modern novel is the perfect summer coming of-age read... A perfectly-pitched look at adolescent loss of innocence, it balances dark manipulation with sharp humour
Daily Mail
Meg Rosoff returns with another astute and alluring YA tale, filled with intrigue, and the agony and humiliation of love. [...] The Great Godden is totally absorbing, be it in describing sibling hostility, or the effort required to conceal your feelings. Rosoff perfectly captures the endlessness of summer, and the prickling uneasiness of desire when it's tangled up in hope
Press Association
A study of narcissism, eternal adolescence and those indelible first loves
20 children’s books for summer
The Times
Best known for the dreamy teenage cousin-romance How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff is a rare writer of young adult fiction who is also loved by grown-ups. The Great Godden is just as marvellous – a classic, summery, coming-of-age story about the confusion of adolescent lust
Daily Telegraph
A gift for apparently effortless prose usually betokens an author working long hours perfecting their craft. Meg Rosoff, whose latest novel further cements her place as a truly outstanding popular writer, is one such perfectionist
Books For Keeps
In this latest, it’s not just the believably jaded tone that makes an impact – it’s the way Rosoff balances it, expertly, with the vulnerability of first love (or lust) [...] It’s beautifully done, and a serious contender for the best YA novel of the year
Irish Times
The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff assembles all the ingredients of a summer romance: an extended family, theatrical (and full of drama queens); a historic property; two American brothers, one golden and one dour — so far, so I Capture the Castle with a dash of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is as delicious as a warm, sandy beach and by all means let the waves of emotion slosh over you.
The Jewish Chronicle
Rosoff is the queen of the coming-of-age story ... The temperature rises both literally and metaphorically and an ill-starred romance has ramifications for everyone. Andrew Scott – the ‘hot priest’ from TV’s Fleabag – is an excellent choice as narrator; his languid delivery is perfect
The Mail on Sunday
A joyful, generous coming-of-age story
50 Best Books of 2020, The Daily Telegraph
…far too good to be monopolised by the teenage market: stick this in your elder child’s stocking, then read it yourself
The Times
The Great Godden is a dreamy coming-of-age novel by Meg Rosoff, in which a family’s Arcadian summer by the sea is turned upside down by new arrivals. As with classics such as I Capture the Castle, this is a novel that will appeal to young and old alike
Sweet dreams guaranteed, The Daily Telegraph
Full of lies, lust, manipulation and the agony of being young
Daily Mail
far too good to be monopolised by the teenage market: stick this in your elder child’s stocking, then read it yourself
Best children’s books of the year 2020, The Times {Saturday Review}
a joyful, generous coming-of-age story
50 Best Books of 2020, The Daily Telegraph
Rosoff’s impressionistic prose is all dappled light and salty waves, and her insight into the adolescent mind is peerless ... Teenagers and adults alike will swoon in its embrace
Literary Review
Rosoff’s dazzling, timeless novel is a delight
Independent
This mesmerising coming-of-age tale will have you hooked
Take a Break Magazine
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