‘A hugely assured and very moving first novel’
Mark Haddon, The Sunday Telegraph

‘A dazzling debut. I adored this book; I defy anyone to read the final pages without tears in their eyes. Easily the best book of the year so far’
The Scotsman

‘Poetic, complex and lingering’
New Statesman

‘The writing is both mature and freshly perceptive, creating not only a warmly funny novel of a Neasden childhood – with its engaging minutiae of flapjacks and icepops, lip gloss and daisy hairclips – but a haunting account of the loss of innocence and mental disintegration’
Maya Jaggi, The Guardian

‘Striking… Beautifully written… Evans allows us a glimpse into the lost country of childhood, of which we have all been citizens and to which we can never return’
The New York Times

‘Very enjoyable. Evans writes with tremendous verve and dash. Her ear for dialogue is superb, and she has wit and sharp perception. A consistently readable book filled with likeable characters: a study of loss that has great heart and humour’
The Independent

‘Highly coloured, linguistically inventive. Evans has a powerful and often beguiling imagination’
The Daily Telegraph

‘Enthralling from the first page, this bittersweet fusion of fairytales and nightmares is sugared by nostalgia and salted with sadness’
Daily Mail

‘This marvellously written novel, winner of the Orange Award for New Writers, is rich with both ordinary and extraordinary realities… A sad and beautiful book by a writer whose unexpected turns of phrase contain the essence of her vision’
The Seattle Times 

‘This is a satisfying book, full of energy and charm’
Christina Koning, The Times

‘A serious and accomplished first novel, an affecting study of togetherness and separation in a family, a marriage and, most importantly, between the twins’
Time Out

‘An exciting and vibrant read. It’s a weird and wonderful fairy-tale about the lives of twins. 26a is brilliant and a great read’
Sunday Express

‘Sensual and poetic, as well as powerful and uncompromising… A mature, compelling and beautiful first novel’
The Times Literary Supplement

‘A remarkable first novel’
The Sunday Times

‘26a is a fantastic novel. She is one of the best black writers in Britain today’
Ekow Eshun, The Independent on Sunday

‘The Great Neasden Novel has arrived….Haunting and cherishable…a hugely promising debut’
The Independent

‘Gripping and moving… best served with a box of Kleenex on hand’
The Voice

‘The writing has enough verve and is grounded firmly enough in details that it carries off the wildest of imaginative leaps’
The Columbus Dispatch