Jamrach's Menagerie

An imaginative tour-de-force encompassing the sights and smells of 19th-century London and the wild sea. . . Gripping, superbly written and a delight. * * Times * *
Riveting. Birch is masterful at evoking period and place . . . A teeming exhibition of the beautiful and the bizarre. * * Sunday Times * *
A captivating yarn of high seas and even higher drama. * * Guardian * *
Magical . . . A sustained feat of imagination and diligent research. * * Daily Mail * *
One of the best stories I've ever read . . . A completely original book. -- A. S. Byatt
Carol Birch's fiction continues to stretch bodies and minds to breaking point . . . marvelous and terrifying. * * Sunday Times * *
Never mind not being able to put it down-there is a 100-page section in Jamrach's Menagerie in which you will not be able to breathe. Rarely have I read a book that so deftly marries high literary value with unbearable suspense. -- Robert Hough, author of THE FINAL CONFESSION OF MABEL STARK
Sucks you into a world of the senses, from the filthy streets of Victorian London to the rolling hills of the South Seas. Jaffy Brown, the gifted narrator at the center of this mythic tale, rivals David Copperfield and Ishmael of Moby-Dick with his gift for storytelling. His 'rare old time' becomes, in due course, a fable of friendship, and a tribute to human survival. What a beautifully written and engaging novel! -- Jay Parini, author of THE LAST STATION
Birch is a naturally literary writer who can, with a simple image, evoke the deepest emotion. * * Guardian * *
Whenever I read of people moaning on about the dire state of British fiction, I think of Carol Birch (and people like her) who are writing such good novels . . . her forte is feelings , about which she is so acute. * * Margaret Forster * *