The Dig

'Very fine, engrossing, exquisitely original'

Ian McEwan

'An enthralling story of love and loss, a real literary treasure. One of the most original novels of the year'

Robert Harris

'You don't need to be in archaeology - this is a tale of rivalry, loss and thwarted love. It's so absorbing that I read right through lunchtime one day, and it's not often I miss a meal'

Nigella Lawson

'A rich vein of dry humour runs throughout'

<i>Evening Standard</i>

'Intriguing, tender and entertaining ... easily Preston's best'

<i>Independent</i>

'A delicate, quietly affecting human drama'

<i>Daily Mail</i>

'A moving novel that coheres wonderfully as it progresses'

<i>Spectator</i>

'A delicate evocation of a vanished era'

<i>Sunday Times</i>

Wonderful, evocative. From this simple tale of dirt, Preston has produced the finest gold. He keeps an iron grip on the reader's attention

<i>Observer</i>

'Beautifully written...there is a true and wonderful ending to the story'

Bill Wyman, Mail on Sunday

'Wistful and poignant. A masterpiece in Chekhovian understatement'

Times Literary Supplement

'Exciting, evocative and beautifully written. A treasure in itself'

Griff Rhys Jones

'Shimmers with longing and regret . . . Preston writes with economical grace . . . He has written a kind of universal chamber piece, small in detail, beautifully made and liable to linger on in the heart and the mind. It is something utterly unfamiliar, and quite wonderful'

Michael Pye, The New York Times Book Review