The Original

Reviews / Votes

'What a bewitching book this is. A sinuous, thrilling meditation on fakes and forgers, with echoes of Daphne du Maurier and Sarah Waters and an audacity that is totally original to Nell herself' * Olivia Laing, author of THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME * 'Deliciously engaging and wildly intelligent. I adored this novel about art, authenticity and desire and am a devoted fan of Nell Stevens' * Ayseguel Savas, author of THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS * 'A delightful, playful puzzle of a novel, and a brilliant twist on the nineteenth century orphan-makes-good story. THE ORIGINAL asks whether, sometimes, faking it is the right thing to do' * Claire Fuller, author of UNSETTLED GROUND * 'A marvellously inventive and perfectly forged novel that poses a mischievous question: what role does likeness play in love? The ghosts of Oscar Wilde and Wilkie Collins stalk these pages, whether they know it or not' * Eleanor Catton, author of Birnam Wood * 'A wonderful novel about identity, creativity, money and belonging. It's so witty and propulsive you will forget how brilliantly constructed it is, this tale that brims with the beauty of art, of how to triumph in a difficult world' * Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist * 'Intricate, endlessly intriguing... The reader is kept guessing until the very end... as Stevens deftly raises the stakes, the pages seem to turn themselves. The narrative captivates intellectually, too, probing questions of authenticity, imitation, and self-realisation, in love and in art. The overall effect is of an author boldly stepping out on her own, pursuing themes that were hers all along.' * Observer * 'Casually magisterial... Stevens is showing herself to be that rare thing: a writer who we can think alongside, even while she's making things up' * Lara Feigel, Guardian (book of the day) * 'Immaculate in structure, sure-footed in tone and propelled forward by a rising tide of apprehension, the novel is a captivatingly strange masterpiece of Victorian pastiche. It puts Stevens in the class of Sarah Waters and even du Maurier herself as a sharp-witted fiction writer whose masterly technique and style are matched and sustained by a compelling gift for spinning a yarn' * Miranda Seymour, Financial Times * 'A gorgeous, wildly seductive novel, shimmering with intelligence, humour and joy' * Sarah Waters (on BRIEFLY, A DELICIOUS LIFE) * 'Electrifyingly beautiful, exhilaratingly clever' * Imogen Hermes Gowar (on BRIEFLY, A DELICIOUS LIFE) * 'Like the best historical fiction it is playfully disingenuous... the whole book is radiant with life' * Financial Times (on BRIEFLY, A DELICIOUS LIFE) * 'Nell Stevens's hugely accomplished debut novel evokes a sense both of place and time with a confidence that augurs well for her future career' * Guardian (on BRIEFLY, A DELICIOUS LIFE) * 'Stevens is a very artful writer' * Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker (on MRS GASKELL & ME) * 'A truly lovely book - acutely observed and honest and melancholy' * Jessie Greengrass (on MRS GASKELL & ME) * 'Perfect... as funny as it is poignant' * Lena Dunham (on BLEAKER HOUSE) *