Operation Heartbreak

[A work of] jewel-like brevity and intensity

New York Herald Tribune

Operation Heartbreak pulls off the trick of revealing the fascinating hidden workings of the British War Office within a supremely moving and well-wrought tale... Its ending is as unexpected as it is affecting

Wall Street Journal

A first novel of great distinction . . . a delightful tragi-comedy of military manners. It has been constructed by Duff Cooper with a truly dramatic economy and told with humour, deep feeling and considerable skill

Daily Telegraph

As creditable, as surprising, as abundantly and elegantly good, as anything else Duff Cooper turned his mind and hand to

Michael Hofmann

It is the novel I enjoyed more than any other in the immediate post-war years, and one I have read many times since with undiminished pleasure and growing admiration for Duff Cooper's skill. It is a story of why men go to war, it is also a heart-wrenching love story; a wonderful novel by a masterly writer that should be on everyone's bookshelf

Nina Bawden

Not a word is wasted in this gem of a 1950 novel, inspired by the secret wartime plan. A perfect novel . . . a pleasure to read . . . But how does all this fit into the historical Operation Mincemeat? Ah, that is the most brilliant part of all - a shock, a joy and a perfect shift in the story that it would be terrible to spoil. You will simply have to read it for yourself, and see why Operation Heartbreak has earned its classic status

John Self, The Times

Operation Mincemeat has inspired books, films and musicals, but Cooper’s role as a wartime Cabinet minister brings authentic detail . . . moving and bittersweet

Daily Mail

Poignant and moving, all the more for being adjacent to reality

Evening Standard