Reviews/Clippings « Luke and Jon

Reviews/Clippings

‘It’s a hell of a thing to accuse a new writer of wisdom, but that’s what Robert Williams’ first novel has: a warm, dead-to-rights understanding of the human heart, expressed in prose as clear as a glass of water. I’d predict great things for him, but I think that they’ve already begun.’

Francis Spufford

‘It’s the sort of novel I’m always hoping to find. It’s odd, heartfelt, romantic, sad, and most of all honest. When you read it you feel Williams wrote this one becuase he had to, and those for me are always the best novels.’

Willy Vlautin

‘The kind of book that stays in the mind way past the final page…it has the feel of something distilled, pared down, stripped of fat and frills. It is very, very good.’

Mal Peet

‘Simply a great read.’ Adele Parks

‘A striking and extremely moving debut.’ Alex Clark

Guardian Article 15/11/07

Interview in The Bookseller 10/12/09

Review from bookbag 17/02/10

Review from The Telegraph 13/03/10

Review from The Financial Times 22/03/10

Review from The Guardian 27/03/10

…the prose here is almost a poem… Luke and Jon is a novel of promise, in every sense… Williams is too subtle a writer to burden his boys with a redemptive ending. He leaves us with the possibility of happy-ever-after, through pragmatism and coincidence, with perhaps the hint of a miracle simmering. We are left satisfied yet wanting more. ‘It was special’, as Luke says. ‘It was enough.’

Review from The Times Literary Supplement 02/04/10

Review from Bookmunch 12/04/10

(He really didn’t like it)

Review from Sunset Over Slawit 22/04/10

Review from The Lancashire Evening Post 29/04/10

Blog piece for Faber 07/05/10

Review from Farm Lane Books Blog 29/07/10

Review from Salient Magazine, Victoria University, Wellington 04/10/10

Review from South China Morning Post 11/10/10

Der Spiegel Article (German) 01/12/10

Die Welt Review (German) 01/12/10

Süddeutschen Zeitung Review (German) 01/12/10