A novel where the humour is melancholic, the melancholy mischievous and the talent startling
Milan Kundera,

A novel where the humour is melancholic, the melancholy mischievous and the talent startling.
Milan Kundera,

Thirlwell’s prose is witty and engaging, erudite but fleet and sinuous; the questions he asks are lightly posed, his mock grandeur dispersing in a sea of ridiculous incident and comic undercutting
The Times Literary Supplement

Beautifully written, poignant and clever… Thirlwell has a genuinely unique insight into humankind
The Times

One of the best British novels I’ve read this year for one reason: Thirwell’s prose…at once effervescent and elegant, his narrative voice lifts the novel’s lecherous comedy beyond the sublunary lovers’ antics into a more rarefied sphere
Guardian

Adam Thirlwell is back to form with his second novel… a very human writer
Literary Review

The narrative develops a sense of authenticity that is persuasive enough not to be disturbed, even by the inevitable adventurous sex scene
Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph

The Escape is an utterly glorious piece of work…Thirlwell has with this superb book also staked a rightful claim as a literary phenomenon
The Lady

The novel fizzes with intelligence, verbal skill and humour; the sex scenes are funny, sometimes immensely so
Observer

Fizzes with intelligence, verbal skill and humour
Simon Baker, Observer

Thirwell’s novel elegantly portrays the ageing Haffner’s thrilling attempts to escape from lovers, the mafia, his family and himself.
Telegraph

The writing is polished and full of allusions.
Brandon Robshaw, Independent on Sunday

Thirlwell’s prose displays great erudition…
AH, Guardian