The Pools

Reviews / Votes

A complex anatomy of a murder, The Pools brilliantly evokes the sickening recognition of a wasteful death. Bethan Roberts is a fearless writer whose first novel raises questions about fate and responsibility that remain with the reader long after the last page has been turned. A compelling debut -- Louise Welsh A tense thriller that reminded me of Julie Myerson's Something Might Happen -- Viv Groskop * Eve * Brilliantly illuminating... A beautifully understated debut * Easy Living * An unsettling and disturbing tale of awakening sexuality and predatory parents -- Patricia Duncker A wonderfully self-assured debut... There is a forbidding feeling throughout the novel - an almost audible hum of misgiving coming off the pages. Superb -- Ruth Atkins * The Bookseller * A cool and relevant novel... an urban Cold Comfort Farm... expertly crafted * Sunday Express * A sense of controlled menace broods over every scene, as if the book's tragic outcome were inevitableA sense of controlled menace broods over every scene, as if the book's tragic outcome were inevitable * Guardian * Brilliantly illuminating... A beautifully understated debut * Easy Living * A haunting glimpse of emerging adolescent sexuality and of adult lives wasted by grief... a convincing, haunting debut that evokes an uneasy and menacing Middle England * Time Out *