Bad Relations

Critics Review

• A ravishing novel from the great family saga-teller Cressida Connolly and an honourable tribute to the past

  The Times, Best Books for the Summer

• Connolly’s vivid characterisation, supple prose and striking imagery sweep you along, in an absorbing and affecting saga that uses one family’s story to anatomise the different stages of grief

  Daily Telegraph

• In recent British fiction I can think only of Tessa Hadley who rivals Connolly in exacting such intricate, compelling drama from close-knit families . . . I don’t often wish a book were longer, but this one I did

  Observer

• Masterful . . . a joy to see it garnering the ecstatic reviews it deserves

  Polly Samson, author of A Theatre for Dreamers

• Moving [and] powerful . . . Connolly’s vividly drawn characters grapple with trauma, unkindness and greed in an intriguing novel where past actions reverberate in the present

  Daily Mirror

• Connolly, like Anne Tyler and Tessa Hadley, is a master of fluidly shifting perspectives, a sharply witty observer of social class, and a champion of imaginative empathy

  Daily Mail

• Bad Relations is an amazing achievement and one of the most satisfying books you’re likely to read this year

  The Times

• Elegantly written, this subtle, satisfying, well-observed novel is a delight

  Country and Town House, Books of 2022

• Another fascinating, moving story from the author of After the Party

  Good Housekeeping

• This clever novel set across three timelines tells the story of a family haunted by tragedy. A skilfully written, powerful drama

  BEST

• The plot is neat, tight and unexpected but the novel’s deep satisfaction comes from Connolly’s total immersion in historical atmosphere and profound understanding of human pain

  Literary Review

• A gripping story of love, loss and tragic betrayal

  Country and Townhouse

• What if you could write a novel whose main plot points are a death in combat, a suicide and the breakdown of family relations, and make it beautiful? What if you dared not to show the grimmest bits, but let them happen off-stage, while using elegant, beautiful prose to paint the spaces around them? Cressida Connolly is that brave writer and Bad Relations is her latest masterpiece . . . ravishing

  The Times

• Haunting

  Observer

• A writer who seems able to peer directly into the human heart

  John Preston

• Uncanny, evocative, atmospheric

  Sunday Times on 'After the Party'

• Connolly is a terrifically subtle writer… [she] slyly sweeps her readers into the period drama as tensions tauten between families and social classes

  Daily Telegraph on 'After the Party'

• Profound and moving and completely original, with a storyline that is completely satisfying. It’ll be one of those novels that stays in my mind forever… it’s a work of art

  Craig Brown on 'After the Party'

• I finished it in two days flat and I’ve never read anything quite like it

  Hilary Spurling on 'After the Party'

• A wonderfully subtle and interesting account of the Mosley women, with a compelling voice

  Linda Grant on 'After the Party'