“Ambitious … McCrea writes insightfully about mother-daughter dynamics, the power of theater, and women’s roles in revolutionary movements.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Written with McCrea’s trademark confidence and virtuosity, this is a sumptuous, winning book. Its characters are not so much drawn from life (Imelda Marcos makes an entrance) as strange revenants from a turbulent dream. Its high intelligence throws light everywhere, and suggestive shade.”
—Sebastian Barry, author of A Thousand Moons
“A sweeping political saga spanning East and West. McCrea’s confident and lucid prose gives us both the personal and the political. Mesmerizing.”
—Xiaolu Guo, author of A Lover’s Discourse
“The tremors of Gavin McCrea’s prose thrillingly record what happens as a world spins off its axis, shattering public and private lives. This electrifying fiction confirms McCrea’s status among the leading novelists of his brilliant generation.”
—Frank McGuinness, author of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
“The Sisters Mao is a spectacular novel, utterly enthralling and insightful; every voice is penetrating, dazzling. In spite of the setting, it is full of relevance for these times; it manages to be both historically authentic and thrillingly contemporary. Gavin is a writer of extraordinary talent, and I cannot think of a kind of reader who I would not recommend this novel to.”
—Sara Baume, author of Spill Simmer Falter Wither
“Gavin McCrea is a wonderful writer: bold, innovative, and fiercely intelligent, and these qualities shine from this magnificent novel. I was enthralled from the first sentence to the last.”
—Donal Ryan author of Strange Flowers
Praise for Mrs Engels:
“An unusual, wholly convincing voice.”
—Joyce Carol Oates
“[B]rought to life with exuberant force by the first-time author Gavin McCrea.”
—Carmela Ciuraru, New York Times
“Enthralling.”
—O: The Oprah Magazine
“Incisive… outlines a number of radical dislocations—in geography, nationality, class, and even love.”
—New Yorker
“Impressive… A memorable portrait of a woman looking for a cause of her own, distinct from the one made famous by her husband.”
—Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“A fine symphony.”
—The Guardian
“Outstanding, intelligent, original.”
—TLS
“Ambitious and imaginative.”
—Daily Mail
“Dazzlingly convincing.”
—The Times “Book of the Month”
“Superb.”
—The Irish Times