Shadowplay

Dazzling...the panache and subtlety of his prose perfectly match that gusto and creative finesse of the High Victorian world his novel wonderfully evokes * Sunday Times *
A novel I'd recommend to anyone: a rollicking and moving story... Delicious and clever late-Victorian gothic -- James Naughtie * Radio Times *
An ingenious novel… O’Connor’s work is hugely impressive and utterly haunting * Sunday Mirror *
Joseph O’Connor is a very great artist and storyteller. The quotient of enjoyment in his extraordinary new novel is stupendous -- Sebastian Barry
A hugely entertaining book about the grand scope of friendship and love, it is also, movingly – at times, astonishingly – a story of transience, loss and true loyalty -- Sadie Jones * Guardian *
A work of Gothic splendour...O'Connor's writing is always intensely atmospheric. As a romp through Ripper-ravaged London, Shadowplay is mightily entertaining. But as a meditation on hidden sexuality, it is powerful and poignant * Literary Review *
A fabulous novel that tells the otherwise largely unknown story of the man behind Gothic horror's most enduring character… The narrative stretches decades, and throbs with theatrical vigour. This is writing at its most immersive, full of Dickensian pulchritude and pathos. It should, and might well, win prizes -- Nick Duerden * i *
A rollicking tale… an affecting depiction of artistic and social emancipation… O’Connor’s well-researched theatrical caper offers total immersion in a romantic, lost London... be nourished by a colourful tale of secret love and public performance * The Times *
There are few living writers who can take us back in time so assuredly, with such sensual density, through such gorgeous sentences. Joseph O’Connor is a wonder, and Shadowplay is a triumph. -- Peter Carey, twice winner of the Booker Prize
Gorgeously dark… Shadowplay is an accomplished, compelling read * Herald *
A hugely entertaining and atmospheric novel, one can almost smell the greasepaint -- Deborah Moggach
A mesmerising read, meticulously researched, with beautiful prose...O'Connor has the gift of conjuring up any location....Wonderful suspense a la Wilkie Collins * Sunday Independent *
Wonderful. The writing is beautiful. -- Derek Jacobi
This is a marvellous novel: at once freewheeling, exultant, fully inhabiting the momentary, transitory nature of its world; and intensely aware of the limitations – too frequently self-imposed – of our painfully fleeting lives. * Dublin Review of Books *
One of Ireland's finest writers -- John Boyne * Washington Post *
Three famous Victorians carry this sparkling historical novel: Sir Henry Irving, the great actor-manager; Ellen Terry, his leading lady; and Bram Stoker, the young Irishman who worked for Irving as a theatre manager before writing Dracula. From their entangled lives Joseph O’Connor weaves a story of love and loyalty, rich in wit and imagination. -- 100 Sizzling Summer Books * Daily Mail *
One of the best writers working today -- Alice Walker
In gorgeous sentences, Joseph O’Connor captures the essence of three very different artistic temperaments in all their nobility and glorious absurdity -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express *
Joseph O'Connor is the only writer I know who can make you laugh and cry in the same sentence. -- Lawrence Norfolk
Joseph O'Connor is the only writer I know who can make you laugh and cry in the same sentence. -- Lawrence Norfolk
Magnificent -- John Boyne
A virtuoso act of literary ventriloquism. Shadowplay is funny, smart, tender, wise and written with inch-perfect precision -- Colum McCann
A thrilling novel, exquisitely contrived to show the characters whose loves and lives inspired Dracula. A great tribute, and a work of art. Deeply affecting. -- Essie Fox
As fascinating and memorable as anything O'Connor has done. The writing, too, as thrilling as ever. A great writer performing Olympian literary storytelling. -- Sir Bob Geldof
O’Connor is a true master of historical fiction, able to illuminate a bygone age with skill, wit and imagination -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *
A lushly enjoyable pastiche of fin-de-siècle prose, in which Victorian euphemism is an authenticating stamp that double as a source of humour -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *
A luminous and masterly depiction of Bram Stoker’s time at the Lyceum, this wonderful book explores the complex nature of love and creativity. Utterly captivating. -- Sophia Tobin
Beautifully written. O’Connor creates a vivid and vigorous world of his own -- Andrew Taylor * Spectator *
Beautifully written and gorgeously atmospheric * Best *
A beautifully written masterpiece * SHEmazing! *
A vividly written and atmospheric meditation on the creative process -- Elizabeth Buchan * Daily Mail *
O’Connor is masterly at evoking the late Victorian era; its train journeys, street scenes, formality and banter… O’Connor is masterly at evoking the late Victorian era; its train journeys, street scenes, formality and banter -- Suzi Feay * Financial Times *
Rich and vivid * Daily Telegraph *
Joseph O'Connor has written an entertaining novel that combines narrative with transcripts of recordings, diary entries and other notes. It steeps viewers in the theatre of Irving and Terry in the late 1870s and beyond, providing much informative colour at the same time as delving deeply and frankly into a series of relationships that are generally convincing. -- Philip Fisher * British Theatre Guide *
O’Connor tells his story in rich and stylish prose * Times Literary Supplement *
A rousing story about a remarkable woman * Mail on Sunday, *Summer reads of 2019* *
Joseph O’Connor’s vivid descriptive writing evokes Stoker’s memories of the post-famine Ireland of his youth and of Irving’s company’s fraught tours of America… [his] fine writing, his wit and sympathy create a richly enjoyable backdrop for some familiar characters * Tablet, *Novel of the Week* *
Enthralling… Brings to teeming life the London of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras * Irish Times *
Brilliant... alternately deeply moving and laugh-aloud funny -- Peter Marshall * History Today *
O'Connor's gift is to weave whimsical moments in between the complexity of relationships and people... a beautiful story -- Tracey Steel * People's Friend *
An ambitious celebration of friendship, theatre and the power of darkness, Shadowplay is chilling and dramatic in equal measure -- Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *
A wonderfully evocative tale within a tale -- Ben East * Observer *
A thrilling novel, exquisitely contrived to show the characters whose loves and lives inspired Dracula. A great tribute, and a work of art. Deeply affecting. -- Essie Fox