Golden Hill (Spufford) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[E]bullient, freewheeling historical fiction.… Its action is so vivid that you seem to be consuming (imagine Wolf Blitzer’s voice here) breaking news. Delirious storytelling backfilled with this much intelligence is a rare and happy sight.… [A] a high-level entertainment, filled with so much brio that it’s as if each sentence had been dusted with Bolivian marching powder and cornstarch and gently fried. Some of this swashbuckling action goes over the top, but you will probably be turning the pages too quickly to register a complaint.
Dwight Garner - New York Times


Admirably eccentric.… The boisterous plot is perfectly in keeping with its mid-18th century setting.… This wonderful novel concludes with one further revelation, one that will make you reflect once again what a gloriously tricky fellow this Francis Spufford is.
Boston Globe


Francis Spufford’s fiction début is a fast-paced romp, but it keeps its eyes on the moral conundrums of America.… [He is] an author capable of making any topic, however unlikely, at once fascinating and amusing. Golden Hill is both.
The New Yorker


The intoxicating effect of Golden Hill is much more than an experiment in form. [Spufford] has created a complete world, employing his archivist skills to the great advantage of his novel.… This is a book born of patience, of knowledge accrued and distilled over decades, a style honed by practice. There are single scenes here more illuminating, more lovingly wrought, than entire books.
Financial Times (UK)


Like a newly discovered novel by Henry Fielding with extra material by Martin Scorsese. Why it works so well is largely down to Spufford's superb re-creation of New York.… His writing crackles with energy and glee, and when Smith's secret is finally revealed it is hugely satisfying on every level. For its payoff alone Golden Hill deserves a big shiny star.
Times (UK)


Splendidly entertaining and ingenious.… Throughout Golden Hill, Spufford creates vivid, painterly scenes of street and salon life, yet one never feels as though a historical detail has been inserted just because he knew about it. Here is deep research worn refreshingly lightly.… [A] first-class period entertainment.
Guardian (UK)


Paying tribute to writers such as Fielding, Francis Spufford's creation exudes a zesty, pin-sharp contemporaneity.…[C]olonial New York takes palpable shape in his dazzlingly visual, pacy and cleverly plotted novel.
Daily Mail (UK)


Golden Hill shows a level of showmanship and skill which seems more like a crowning achievement than a debut . [Spufford] brings his people and situations to life with glancing ease.… They all live and breathe with conviction.… His descriptive powers are amazing.… Spufford's extraordinary visual imagination and brilliant pacing seems to owe more to the movies than anything else.
Evening Standard (UK)


Spufford’s…New York bursts with energy, danger, and potential. His ironic, sometimes bawdy sense of humor and coy storytelling may frustrate those who do not "cotton" to the "cant," but patient readers are rewarded with a feast of language, character, local color, and historical detail.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred reivew) In 1746, a man named Smith arrives in New York City, population 7,000, in his hand, a bill for 1,000 pounds payable in New York. No one can vouch for him, and he won't explain why he needs so much money.… [A] successful homage to the great master of the picaresque novel, Henry Fielding.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Library Journal


(Starred reivew) A virtuoso literary performance.
Booklist


(Starred reivew) [S]parkling.… Spufford suggests in an afterword that he was aiming for "a colonial counterpart to Joseph Andrews."… A first-rate entertainment with a rich historical feel and some delightful twists.
Kirkus Reviews