‘hyper-sensitive examination of family relationships … ambitious and trickily arranged narrative … The result is a skilful, sensitive romantic novel’
Sunday Telegraph
‘Maggie O’Farrell has a magical talent for writing sensuous love scenes which are somehow touchingly old-fashioned’ Independent on Sunday
‘Fans of the earlier books can expect the same telling observations, evocative descriptions and a narrative that moves seamlessly between past and present’ Scotsman on Sunday
‘I was held by the power of Maggie O’Farrell’s writing. I think she’s brilliant’
Jacqueline Wilson, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review
‘I was completely convinced by how well observed the characters were’
Kate Mosse, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review
‘Her strongest yet, will especially please readers who loved O’Farrell’s debut … elegant and perfectly judged’ Time Out
‘From time to time a book surfaces that makes reviewers forget they are supposed to be reading with any analytical or objective motives, so intent are they on devouring the text. After You’d Gone was one of those books. And, remarkably, so is The Distance Between Us. What makes this feat even more startling is that the novel has not sacrificed the exceptional quality of prose set by O’Farrell’s first novel … O’Farrell has made an exquisite return to form with her third novel … The Distance Between Us is made all the more admirable for involving two such flawed, at times infuriating and yet ultimately understandable characters … it is this tempering of the saccharine that makes the novel such a triumphant read’ Zembla
‘The Distance Between Us is a treat, a fluent and enticing tale about the bond between sisters, and the need to face and then move on from a difficult part of the past. The themes are not self-conscious – O’Farrell is too skilled a writer for that and prefers to swim around questions rather than concoct answers’ The Times
‘Mesmerising stuff’ Red ‘Read of the Month’
‘A well paced read that slowly and tantalisingly unravels a web of mysteries, tragedies and intrigue, keeping you hooked’ Eve
‘Maggie O’Farrell brilliantly reveals how the past has an untidy habit of cluttering up the present in this compulsively readable tale of star-crossed lovers and secretive siblings’ Elle
‘Spooky and tender, with a dizzying twist near the end’ Daily Mail
‘Ms O'Farrell's take on love, loss and grief is even more gripping than ER: The George Clooney Years … O’Farrell’s gift – apart from writing like a dream – lies in creating characters you really care about … Do yourself a favour – buy this and O’Farrell’s two previous books. And take the phone off the hook’ Heat
‘With the publication of The Distance Between Us the search for an ideal book to take on holiday this year can be called off. Maggie O’Farrell’s third novel is the one: absorbing, romantic but not sentimental, it flits across countries and generations with a butterfly’s lightness of touch … O’Farrell’s storytelling is masterly and multilayered … To say this is O’Farrell’s best book yet is saying a lot. It’s beautifully done: the writing is spare and elegant, the characters are well-realised, the story is terrific. The trouble is, it is too good to save up until the summer.’ Telegraph
‘O’Farrell is a gifted and ambitious writer, and in many respects this book marks a stretching of her talent in its geographic reach – the Hong Kong scenes are confidently written – its range of nationalities and ages, and its command of narrative technique.’ Guardian
‘This is the third of her seductive novels and quite the best to date ... haunting, passionate ... full of sensual language [and] vivid snapshot imagery ... this superb story ... has an extraordinary female intensity and authentic emotional punch’ Barbara Trapido Independent
‘O’Farrell writes with lyrical precision about sex, fear and sibling rivalry. Her eye for the telling detail makes you look at the most mundane human activity with new eyes. It’s hard for contemporary novelist to put a new spin on eroticism, but she manages it … Plot-wise, O’Farrell keeps all the plates spinning … a graceful and hypnotic novel.’ Observer
‘O’Farrell’s imaginative territory is one you return to with delight … What makes her really remarkable among modern novelists is that you care passionately about her characters and their fates … In O’Farrell, the Victorian Gothic novel is reborn as a modernist vision of a fragmented society in which the only salvation is love. She has rescued an ancient literary form from oblivion and made it wildly enjoyable, but more artful than a romantic novel might, in these cynical times, have any right to be.’ The Times
‘I raced greedily through my first reading as though gorging on a box of chocolates … O’Farrell is very certain of her characters and they move with the inexorability of figures in a Greek tragedy, although The Distance Between Us is about love and reconciliation. O’Farrell is so adept with the plot that you feel there could have been no other outcome.’ Literary Review
‘Maggie O’Farrell’s writing skilfully crosses the boundaries between literary and popular fiction’ Mail on Sunday
‘This novel is built delicately around both Jake’s search and that of Stella, whose story is no less involved, but structured with equal compassion and skill’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘A powerful story about parallel experiences, bonds between sisters and the influence of family history on our lives’ Illawarra Mercury
‘Another subtly, darkly amusing tale about how things can change and still stay the same’ Courier Mail
