”Ashdown’s storytelling skills are formidable; her human insights highly perceptive.”
The Observer: “A wonderful debut – intelligent, understated and sensitive.”
Mail on Sunday: “By the worthy winner of the 2008 Mail on Sunday Novel Prize, Glasshopper is an intelligent, beautifully observed coming-of-age story, packed with vivid characters and inch-perfect dialogue.”
Fay Weldon and Paula Johnson (Mail on Sunday Novel Competition): “Engrossing and moving.”
Amazon: Hurry Up and Wait named in Amazon’s Top 100 ‘Customer Favourites in 2011.
Waterstone’s Books Quarterly: “An immaculately written novel with plenty of dark family secrets and gentle wit within. Recommended for book groups.”
The Observer Books of the Year 2009: “A tender and subtle novel about alcoholism that explores difficult issues in deceptively easy prose.”
London Evening Standard Best Books of 2009: “A disturbing, thought-provoking tale of family dysfunction, spanning the second half of the 20th century, that guarantees laughter at the uncomfortable familiarity of it all.”
Heat Magazine: “The story addresses some pretty dark themes, but never strays into misery-lit territory. A slow-burner, which makes the revelation at the end even more heart-wrenching.”
Sainsbury’s Magazine: “A brilliant debut.”
Glamour: “A heartbreaking redemptive tale of family secrets that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster.”
Easy Living: “Carefully observed, unexpected and mesmerisingly beautiful.”
Bella Magazine: “Ashdown’s Glasshopper was one of our favourite books of 2009, and her second novel is another mix of compelling characters and 1980s nostalgia.”
Stylist: “Haunting fiction exploring the treacherous territory of adolescence.”
David Vann, author of Legend of a Suicide: “I love it. It’s a book that’s very fast and really rewarding as a reader. There’s a wrenching end to the first chapter that switches the mood and absolutely hooked me for the rest of the book.”
Lemn Sissay on the Simon Mayo Show: “A great story. It is incredibly sad but it’s incredibly enjoyable, like watching a horror film; you enjoy being frightened.”
Joel Morris on the Simon Mayo Show: “It reminded me of Iain Banks. If you enjoyed The Crow Road, I think you’ll get lots out of this book.”
Boyd Hilton on the Simon Mayo Show: “It’s an incredibly powerful, intense book. Very, very real.“
Amazon review: “Just about the most incredible book I’ve ever read.” “This will, in time, become a classic.”
