Golden hill: 'Best book of the century' Richard Osman - Tapa blanda

Miraculously constructed . . . at once so fabulously entertaining, so exquisitely wrought and so moving that it stands among not just the best first novels of the year, but the best novels of this or any year. (Sam Leith, Chair of Judges for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2017)

Golden Hill is a novel of gloriously capacious humanity, thick-woven with life in all its oddness and familiarity, a novel of such joy it leaves you beaming, and such seriousness that it asks to be read again and again ... this novel is verifiable gold.' (Alexandra Harris Sunday Telegraph)

The intoxicating effect of Golden Hill is much more than an experiment in form. [Spufford] has created a complete world, employing his archivist skills to the great advantage of his novel ... This is a book born of patience, of knowledge accrued and distilled over decades, a style honed by practice. There are single scenes here more illuminating, more lovingly wrought, than entire books.' (Sophie Elmshirst Financial Times)

A cunningly crafted narrative that, right up to its tour de force conclusion, is alive with tantalising twists and turns ... This is a dazzlingly written novel. Little brilliances of metaphor and phrasing gleam everywhere. (Peter Kemp Sunday Times)

Like a newly discovered novel by Henry Fielding with extra material by Martin Scorsese. Why it works so well is largely down to Spufford's superb re-creation of New York ... His writing crackles with energy and glee, and when Smith's secret is finally revealed it is hugely satisfying on every level. For its payoff alone Golden Hill deserves a big shiny star. (Robert Douglas-Fairhurst The Times)

Splendidly entertaining and ingenious ... Throughout Golden Hill, Spufford creates vivid, painterly scenes of street and salon life, yet one never feels as though a historical detail has been inserted just because he knew about it. Here is deep research worn refreshingly lightly ... a first-class period entertainment. (Steven Poole Guardian)

Golden Hill shows a level of showmanship and skill which seems more like a crowning achievement than a debut . [Spufford] brings his people and situations to life with glancing ease ... They all live and breathe with conviction ... His descriptive powers are amazing ... Spufford's extraordinary visual imagination and brilliant pacing seems to owe more to the movies than anything else. (Claire Harman Evening Standard)

Utterly captivating ... pitch perfect from the opening sentence. (Richard Eyre Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4)

The best 18th century novel since the 18th century - I was completely engrossed (Frances Stonor Saunders Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4)

As a work of historical evocation it is just wonderful. (Jan Morris Literary Review)

Winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2016 Winner of the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2017 Winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2017 Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2017 Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2017 Shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2017 Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Novel of the Year 2017 A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY New York, a small town on the tip of Manhattan Island, 1746. One rainy evening, a charming and handsome young stranger fresh off the boat from England pitches up to a counting house on Golden Hill Street, with a suspicious yet compelling proposition -- he has an order for a thousand pounds in his pocket that he wishes to cash. But can he be trusted? This is New York in its infancy, a place where a young man with a fast tongue can invent himself afresh, fall in love, and find a world of trouble . . .