*****_******_******_******_******_******_*******'One of the funniest, most finely achieved comic novels, even by her own standard … I think it’s a masterpiece**.' ALI SMITH**‘I think Nicola Barker is incapable of a dull page. [Her work] is unified by its spirit of adventure.’** KEVIN BARRY**How long does it take to change the world?****Could it happen in approximately twenty minutes?** Charles, a forty-year-old teddy bear maker, is trying to sell his late mother's house, helped by his estate agent Avigail (who thinks Charles is an imbecile). The prospective the fearsome Wang Shu - who has no desire to make idle chit-chat - and her downtrodden daughter, Ying Yue.During the twenty-minute viewing a huge number of things happen, although it is also entirely possible that nothing happens at all. Which is it? Can the world really turn on its axis during a mundane discussion about cheese preservation? Has fiction the power to do that? Should it even want to?*****_******_******_******_******_******_*******'****She really is a genius.’** GUARDIAN**‘Life-affirming hilarity – Evelyn Waugh on ecstasy.’** NELL ZINK**'A madly brilliant little book that asks who at any point is in control of what. I loved it.'** DAILY MAIL‘**Nicola Barker’s wildness and capacity for the absurd often delight me**.’ SARAH MOSS‘**What an audacious writer Nicola Barker is** … **In an era when plot is king, Barker has typically, joyously, dispensed with one** … **Barker’s pleasure in the novella feels defiant**.’ EVENING STANDARD‘**I Am Sovereign is bursting with energy, compassion and humour**.’ LITERARY REVIEW‘**Barker is a writer in a class of her own** … **A work of coruscating intelligence, of deep humanity**.’ OBSERVER‘**A riotous burst of a novel that scrutinises the nature of fiction with the lightest of touches**.’ MAIL ON SUNDAY‘**A bracing, brilliantly bonkers comic novel** … **This is freewheeling fiction that delights in the visual**.’ SUNDAY TIMES‘**Barker’s writing is very, very funny, both ha ha and strange** ... **Fans of Ali Smith’s “Seasonal Quartet” will enjoy a similarly arch, detached view on the banality of contemporary Britain** ... **A gloriously audacious blend of, well, the deep and the trite**.’ INDEPENDENT
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*****_******_******_******_******_******_*******'One of the funniest, most finely achieved comic novels, even by her own standard … I think it’s a masterpiece**.' ALI SMITH**‘I think Nicola Barker is incapable of a dull page. [Her work] is unified by its spirit of adventure.’** KEVIN BARRY**How long does it take to change the world?****Could it happen in approximately twenty minutes?** Charles, a forty-year-old teddy bear maker, is trying to sell his late mother's house, helped by his estate agent Avigail (who thinks Charles is an imbecile). The prospective the fearsome Wang Shu - who has no desire to make idle chit-chat - and her downtrodden daughter, Ying Yue.During the twenty-minute viewing a huge number of things happen, although it is also entirely possible that nothing happens at all. Which is it? Can the world really turn on its axis during a mundane discussion about cheese preservation? Has fiction the power to do that? Should it even want to?*****_******_******_******_******_******_*******'****She really is a genius.’** GUARDIAN**‘Life-affirming hilarity – Evelyn Waugh on ecstasy.’** NELL ZINK**'A madly brilliant little book that asks who at any point is in control of what. I loved it.'** DAILY MAIL‘**Nicola Barker’s wildness and capacity for the absurd often delight me**.’ SARAH MOSS‘**What an audacious writer Nicola Barker is** … **In an era when plot is king, Barker has typically, joyously, dispensed with one** … **Barker’s pleasure in the novella feels defiant**.’ EVENING STANDARD‘**I Am Sovereign is bursting with energy, compassion and humour**.’ LITERARY REVIEW‘**Barker is a writer in a class of her own** … **A work of coruscating intelligence, of deep humanity**.’ OBSERVER‘**A riotous burst of a novel that scrutinises the nature of fiction with the lightest of touches**.’ MAIL ON SUNDAY‘**A bracing, brilliantly bonkers comic novel** … **This is freewheeling fiction that delights in the visual**.’ SUNDAY TIMES‘**Barker’s writing is very, very funny, both ha ha and strange** ... **Fans of Ali Smith’s “Seasonal Quartet” will enjoy a similarly arch, detached view on the banality of contemporary Britain** ... **A gloriously audacious blend of, well, the deep and the trite**.’ INDEPENDENT