Rich in period detail and with requisite glittering trappings, it's the sex that is most carefully observed in Mason's lusty romp * Daily Mail *
Told with humour, charm, fine attention to detail and a healthy dose of eroticism * Independent on Sunday *
Sex is everywhere, both well described and very funny . . . an enthralling, perfectly paced romp that breathes new life into the picaresque genre * Observer *
A hugely accomplished novel - the story of Piet Barol, a young, provincial Dutchman and the social and sexual adventures he embarks upon in belle epoque Amsterdam * Independent, 50 Best Summer Reads *
Elegant, upholstered and, for all the sex, well-behaved * Times Literary Supplement *
A masterpiece. Like Henry James on Viagra. Gripping as hell . . . Piet was wonderfully drawn - rogueish and yet wholly sympathetic * Alex Preston, author of Winchelsea *
A sharply written story of love, money and erotic intrigue pulsing behind the staid canal fronts of nineteenth century Amsterdam. Mason's hero is amoral but irresistible. I was gripped till the very last page * Daisy Goodwin, screenwriter and author of The Fortune Hunter *
This elegantly plotted and witty tale unfolds in prose that is not just confident, but impressively stylish * The Lady *
Piet Barol is a dashing young man of the Belle Epoque who seduces his way into a life of decadence in this fast-paced historical page-turner * Easy Living *
Just try to resist . . . A Continental Downton Abbey plus sex, with a dash of Dangerous Liaisons tossed in * Seattle Times *
A gorgeous confection. . . . Piet is the rare character - the rare being - whose unfailing charm and luck only make us cheer him on more * The New York Times *
This book about pleasure is a provocative joy * O, The Oprah Magazine *
Terrific. . . . The best new work of fiction to cross my desk in many moons * Washington Post *
Think Balzac but lighter and sexier - an exquisitely laced corset of a novel with a sleek, modern zipper down the side * Marie Claire *
Superb. . . . [Mason's] gorgeous, precise descriptions mirror Amsterdam's singular combination of material opulence and Calvinist severity * Wall Street Journal *
[An] up-close mix of luxury, labor and longing - plus a country house's-worth of burbling romance * Los Angeles Times *
If Charles Dickens and Jane Austen had a love child who grew up reading nothing but Edith Wharton and Penthouse Forum - well, that person might be almost as wry, sexy, and knowing a writer as Richard Mason * Boston Globe *
A picaresque novel in the 18th-century tradition of John Cleland's Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure and Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones. . . . Piet is a charmer * Washington Times *
Exquisite. . . . A showcase for [Mason's] nimble writing, but also extends his storytelling prowess * Pittsburgh Tribune-Review *
An elegantly written, sexy novel * The Daily Beast *
[An] artful evocation of the European Belle Epoque * The New Yorker *
Edith Wharton would be impressed. . . . Lovely and rich * Entertainment Weekly *
