The Twisted Heart - Tapa dura

A literary jeu d'esprit in the style of Scarlett Thomas's The End of Mr Y . . . skittish, stream-of-consciousness prose, ultra-realistic dialogue and a genuinely puzzling historical murder mystery. Fresh and clever and very funny. -- Joe O'Connell * * Guardian * * Gowers's writing is absolutely beautiful. * * The Times * * Funny, tragic and inspiring. * * Daily Telegraph (on When to Walk) * * Gowers is a genius. -- Scarlett Thomas Witty, spiky, clever and psychologically acute. * * Independent on Sunday (on When to Walk) * * The Twisted Heart is really a contemporary love story, and a very good one too . . . This is fine writing . . . [Gowers] is very good indeed on the little things that bring a fiction to life and make it ring true . . . Her novel is sharp, acute, comic and true to life; admirable and enjoyable. -- Allan Massie * * Scotsman * * An enjoyable and gripping read. -- Jude Piesse * * Mslexia * * An intriguing literary thriller. * * Easy Living * * Rebecca Gowers is a dab hand at creating finely drawn characters so full of unease that their uncomfortable relationship with their surroundings manifests itself in physical symptoms . . . Gowers's deft, precise touch and ability to generate a sense of discomfiting ambiguity turn the linked stories into a dark delight of a novel. -- Tina Jackson * * Metro * * Gowers is a very original author, and unravels this modern romance in cleverly non-linear style. -- Malcolm Jack * * List * * A sweet and tender love story between an unlikely pair . . . At heart, it seems quaintly old-fashioned - but none the worse for that. * * Source * *

Kit, a work-obsessed literature student, decides on a whim to go to a dance class. And for a while it looks like Joe, the shadowy figure she meets there, may tempt her to put her books aside and live a little. But as Joe's world becomes increasingly threatening and Kit's research leads her to stumble on an extraordinary historical mystery, she is faced with a choice. Will she hide herself away in her studies or will she make the leap of faith that could change her existence forever? The Twisted Heart is both a hugely enjoyable novel about the challenges of love and a startling exploration of previously unrecognised links between the young Charles Dickens and the deranged murder of a prostitute known as The Countess. Brilliantly weaving these threads together, it confirms Gowers as one of the most exciting voices in Britain today.