The People's Act of Love

'A quite extraordinary novel . . . the language is so fresh and crisp and sparkling. And what a narrative! What a story!'
PHILIP PULLMAN

'Magnificent and beautifully written . . . such a truly Russian novel, with its huge horizons, it is an exceptional event in English literature'
ANTONY BEEVOR

'Spellbinding. Though set in the past, this feels like the most contemporary fiction you'll ever read . . . A truly great read'
Irvine Welsh, Guardian

'Has the strangeness and clarity of a dream. This is historical fiction that transcends the genre – as intense as a thriller, imagined on an epic scale'
The Times

'The best and most original book that I have read for years - LOUIS DE BERNIÈRES

'A strikingly unusual and ambitious novel . . . Violence and sensuality commingle in a tense, complex thriller with the sweep and flavour of Russia'
Sunday Telegraph

'This remarkable and ambitious book succeeds as a savagely colourful, always astonishing entertainment of elegant and bold storytelling'
Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard

'A powerfully realised novel . . . supremely well plotted'
Observer

'Once in a while a novel comes along that is so startlingly original as to defy categorisation . . . This is powerful storytelling indeed'
Mail on Sunday

'Dazzling . . . Meek has created a unique story, distinctively Russian'
Spectator

'Vivid, brutal and exhilarating'
Daily Mail

'What is most striking is the sheer quality of the writing: the cinematic vividness with which he captures the shock of the moment as a sword slices off a head . . . Impressive'
Sunday Times

'A huge achievement . . . Excellent'
New Statesman

'Combines the epic sweep of a Russian classic with the psychological precision of the keenest suspense thriller'
Literary Review

'I was gripped by James Meek's Siberian western The People's Act of Love . . . With admirable confidence Meek combines big country and big characters to create a sort of intellectual epic, which I enjoyed for its revelation of a fascinating corner of 20th-century history'
MICHAEL PALIN

'James Meek's immense and consistently impressive narrative incorporates the bizarre-but-true extremes of post-revolutionary Russia. . . Meek keeps the sensational elements at the service of a profound, propulsive plot, while maintaining a pleasingly sardonic edge throughout. . . All this plus an unflinching castration scene which presents a truly eye-watering account of severe pain in the Urals'
Guardian

'A big, bold thrillingly different story told with uncanny authority. Meek understands the horrific power of evil, but he never loses his sense of humour or his affection for those odd moments of grace that keep the human heart alive'
MICHEL FABER

'Meek has done something unique here: by turns gruesome, beguiling and beautiful. I know I've found my novel of the year'
ALAN WARNER

'Meek's study of slow de-humanisation and his characters' ultimate willingness to sacrifice personal happiness and, in many cases, much more for an intangible ideal is, in terms of story-telling and intellectual suggestiveness, addictive'
Observer 

'A great Russian story full of heart and hot blood'
Sunday Herald