'Nicola pops out from the smartly done-up flat in London's Netting Hill Gate for a packet of cigarettes. When she returns, her lover, Jonathan, calmly informs her that their cohabitation is at an end. Why? Nicola has no idea . . . Gradually she begins to fight back, and one of the many pleasures of the novel is witnessing the buckling on of her armour. Not much in the way of folly escapes Madeleine St John, and the oubliette she opens into the darker reaches of the spirit is unsettling.' - Elizabeth Buchan, The Times