'A very entertaining romp.' GUARDIAN WEEKLY 'She writes with vivid, fervent imagination, provoking shivers in the reader.' EVENING STANDARD 'Spitefully funny, sordid and chilling, A FACTORY OF CUNNING deserves to become a cult classic.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Stockley, a painter and historian of costume, has a fantastic eye for detail and a very witty way with words... which make her FACTORY OF CUNNING an irresistable gegaw.' GUARDIAN 'An indulgent feast for anyone who felt that DANGEROUS LIASONS was crying out for a sequel.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'I was gripped by her versatility and the robust verisimilitude of her creation.' EVENING STANDARD 'Fruity and fast-paced.' RED 'This is high-tone historical melodrama, cleverly plotted and expertly researched.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'This is a viruoso performance...A FACTORY OF CUNNING plays so many games that it is, in the end, as heartless as its anti-heroine- and as charming.' TLS 'The author delights in both the materiality and the artifice of words, their capacity to name, charm, tease and mystify, and also in her own power to string the reader along, offering a series of enticing linguistic surfaces masking horrors underneath.' THE TIMES 'Philippa Stockley is a mistress at bringing the romance and the tawdriness of the past to light. Voluptuous and viscious by turns, this novel crackles with original fun.' F MAGAZINE 'A remarkable tour de force, jam-packed with poetry, verbal fireworks, vitality and charm.' SPECTATOR 'A work of such complexity, a gripping and intricate narrative which accelerates towards a dramatic denouement. Stockley spins a romantic yarn of travel, murder, intrigue and adventure while resolutely rejecting the sentiment of romance. This ia cracking tale of depravity, our avaricious heroine fiercely committed to life and survival.' OBSERVER 'Philippa Stockley's vivid characterisation and playful humour ensure that the story moves on apace, engaging the reader throughout.' WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY 'Ingenious plotting, rich prose and wonderfully nasty characters come together in this brilliant novel.' SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE