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“A wildly brilliant and precocious first novel…This young writer is astonishingly talented, and her writing can steal any scene.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Uncommonly witty and bold…[The Rehearsal has] a real knack for
narrative and a cast of painfully familiar teenage characters who are all
desperate to be as confident, cool, charismatic, and funny as possible. These
are qualities that the extraordinary Eleanor Catton has in spades.”
— Times (London)
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“Dazzling…This astonishing debut novel is a cause for surprise and
celebration: smart, playful, and self-possessed, it has the glitter and mystery
of the true literary original…Wherever the book falls open, it’s nearly impossible
to put down.”
— Guardian (London)
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“The novel’s real subject is the performance of human life, and in this
respect, Catton’s choice of adolescent girls and drama students is apt…It’s a
good piece of writing.”
— Publishers Weekly
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"The Rehearsal is a tour de force that tells two stories
simultaneously while delighting in doubles, parallels, and couples…The
combination of beautiful writing and inventive, nontraditional structure still
make it a dazzling debut.”
— Booklist (starred)
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“A vibrant novel that tests its readers, both in terms of context and
form…Daring and lush…a most beguiling read.”
— BookPage
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A wonderful debut by a truly exciting new writer--The Rehearsal is compulsively good and while at the same time being immensely readable it also continually calls into question the relationship between so-called 'reality' and fiction, and the very nature of truth itself.
— Kate Atkinson
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Dazzling....This astonishing debut novel is a cause for surprise and celebration: smart, playful and self-possessed, it has the glitter and mystery of the true literary original....wherever the book falls open it's near-impossible to put down.
— Guardian
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Uncommonly witty and bold....[The Rehearsal has] a real knack for narrative and a cast of painfully familiar teenage characters who are all desperate to be as confident, cool, charismatic and funny as possible. These are qualities that the extraordinary Eleanor Catton has in spades.
— The Times of London
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Startlingly original.
— Time Out of London
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The Rehearsal is a significant debut novel from an exciting young writer. Eleanor Catton is a new talent who has arrived fully formed, with an accomplished, confident and mature voice. This is a startling novel, striking and strange and brave.
— New Zealand Listener
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This is a daring book, full of velvety pleasures but never afraid to show its claws. Eleanor Catton is crazily talented and insightful--and best of all, she makes language seem new.
— Emily Perkins, author of Not Her Real Name and Other Stories