The Enchantment of Lily Dahl: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction

Compelling...Webster's hot-house atmosphere and collection of oddballs and freaks are brilliantly evoked...She orchestrates suspense masterfully and her writing has a quality of stillness, of effortless deliberation, which is peculiarly suited to the sense of foreboding. - Literary ReviewFull of humour, surprise and powerful images...Hustvedt's real triumph, though, is to take the ordinary and make it strange while showing how all strangeness is rooted in the ordinary. - ObserverTold with the gripping pace of a straightforward mystery tale...A natural born storyteller - IndependentA taut and convincing drama, as well as an intriguing metaphysical thriller - Sunday TimesSubtle, complex and engaging - Financial TimesHustvedt's powerful theme of small-town mentality shows how intimacy and claustrophobia, secrets and skeletons, come out of the same closet...[an] exploration of the narrow line between imagination and reality while still managing to be a rip-roaring adventure story...beautifully written - ScotsmanA startlingly good novel, tautly written and very sexy. - Marie ClaireCompelling...Webster's hot-house atmosphere and collection of oddballs and freaks are brilliantly evoked...She orchestrates suspense masterfully and her writing has a quality of stillness, of effortless deliberation, which is peculiarly suited to the sense of foreboding. - Literary Review