The Pretender is a vivid, transporting feat of imagination and storytelling, so alive I felt Jo Harkin might be a time traveller

MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD

The Pretender had me under its spell from the very first page. I read it with the dedicated fervour of a kid discovering literature for the first time - the magic of it, the way it transports you, the way you don't want to say goodbye to the pages as you turn them. I took it with me everywhere for months, I read it on trains and buses and laughed and cried in public many times. A genuinely brilliant voice. I will recommend this to everyone for years to come: to hear what they think, to enrich their lives, and so that they in turn can understand something about me that can only be communicated through the passing on of a good book

YAEL VAN DER WOUDEN

Billed as “Demon Copperhead meets Wolf Hall”, this historical rollercoaster has a charm all of its own ... A brainy, heartfelt delight

GUARDIAN, Summer reading: the 50 hottest books to read now

Funny and it's devastating. I'm having a fantastic time reading it.

YAEL VAN DER WOUDEN, GUARDIAN, Perfect holiday reading

The Pretender is an absolute delight, at turns funny, moving, filthy and original. Simnel might not win the English crown, but this is a frontrunner for historical fiction book of the year

THE TIMES, The best historical fiction of 2025 - so far

Fantastically accomplished ... A bold and brilliant comedy of royal intrigue ... There's a deep love for literature here which elevates The Pretender above other novels about this period

IMOGEN HERMES GOWER, GUARDIAN, Book of the day