‘Sandra Rivett’s history has long been dismantled and dismissed by a press in thrall to the flashy Lucan lifestyle. Dawson’s insistence that she take prominence with this novel goes some way to achieving a balance, even as the aristocratic carelessness and coldness at the heart of the book prevails.’ – Catherine Taylor, Financial Times. Read… Continue reading…
‘In her highly engrossing new novel, Dawson gives powerful voice to someone silenced in history – the murdered nanny at the heart of the notorious case of Lord Lucan, who disappeared on the night of the murder.’ – iNews. Read the full review here. Continue reading…
‘The narrative’s progress towards the terrifying evening in the dark basement kitchen has the ineluctable pull of tragic myth. We know what must come, but this knowledge never detracts from the memorable beauty and intelligence of the novel. By focusing on the victim, Dawson allows us to completely rethink the original story in a way… Continue reading…
‘All in all, this beautifully written novel achieves its aim: it gives the victim back her voice.’ Read the full review here. Continue reading…
**** ‘Lady Morven and Mandy are superbly drawn characters…this is a sensitive and often beautifully written novel…Dawson’s greatest achievement is to breathe life into Sandra, emphasising that she would deserve our attention even if she had not met such a tragic end.’ Continue reading…
‘Jill Dawson’s fictional take on the affair quietly but firmly redresses the balance as she makes her heroine, Mandy River, a warm, intelligent and life-filled delight who is not a victim but a woman who clear-sightedly sees a family beset by problems and Lord Morven for exactly who he is. Conjuring a world of class… Continue reading…
‘In The Language Of Birds, Jill Dawson weaves a heartbreaking story of a young woman arriving in London to start afresh and look after the children of Lord and Lady Morven but soon finds herself a pawn in a bitter custody battle.’ Read the full review here. Continue reading…
Read the Daily Mail‘s review of LANGUAGE OF BIRDS here. ‘…this book is in a class of its own.’ Continue reading…
The Bookseller – Book of the Month choice Alice O’Keeffe – 11 January ‘The latest from the immeasurably talented Jill Dawson … In Dawson’s sensitive yet gripping retelling of the [Lord Lucan] story, the nanny takes centre stage rather than the aristocrat.’ Continue reading…
‘The Crime Writer, then, works as its own double agent, in a fond nod to Highsmith’s partiality to the identity switch. One reading finds a straightforward suspense story stacked with deliciously unlikeable people and rife with period detail; another offers a fascinating fictive stroll into the mind of a writer who veers off the path… Continue reading…