As ingenious and authentic an example of the fictionalisation of history as any I have read. It weaves its sources - court records, Hansard, letters, journalism - into a believable whole, with irony, pathos and humour ... We feel, as we read Horne's account, as if we're present -- Steve Davies Independent This is as ingenious and authentic an example of the fictionalisation of history as any I have ever read -- Stevie Davies The Independent Horne has written an infinitely enjoyable and irreplaceable book, not only about Zola and his English publisher, their lives and times, but also about the precepts and principles of all writing, as well as about the need to reassess our perception of and attitudes to how books become objects of desire: about the thrill or cult of marketing -- Mika Provata-Carlone Bookanista A fascinating account Irish Examiner

Eileen Horne was born in California, and has lived in Italy and London for thirty-five years. She spent two decades as a television producer in the UK, founding her own production company in 1997 and making over a hundred hours of drama, among them two projects inspired by Zola's novels.She now combines writing, including adaptations for radio and television, with teaching and editing. Her first book, The Pitch, was published by Faber in 2006 and she translated an Italian novella for the MacLehose Press collection Judges (2014). She lives in London and Umbria with her husband and daughter.