"Entertaining and lighthearted."--Publishers Weekly
"Geras writes with real power."--
The Bulletin "Marvelously mimic[s] Grimm's tale . . . Another solid performance from a writer distinguished for her imaginative power and fresh, vivid writing."--
Kirkus Reviews "Absorbing."--
Booklist
The new Definitions list published by Red Fox may well have cracked the main problem with teenage fiction: how do we get readers who consider themselves to be at least in part adults to pick the books up in the first place? How do we make these books "cool" to be seen with? The answer is, by giving them adult-looking covers. The ones I've seen are fantastic. The all carry a' definition' at the top which gives them all-important brand recognition, and every image is perfectly suited to the book it represents. The picture on the front of my own "The Tower Room" is most beautiful and it's exactly the sort of cover I would always pick up at once. Moreover, I wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen reading it on a train. The colour is gorgeous; the matte texture just asks to be stroked and Megan, my heroine, looks precisely as she should. My Egerton Hall trilogy (of which The Tower Room is the first part) is about three friends at a boarding-school not very different ! from my own school, Roedean. I was there from 1955-1962. However the stories that take place in this setting are versions of three fairy tales. The Tower Room is Rapunzel; Watching the Roses is Sleeping Beauty; Pictures of the Night is Snow White. The cover conveys the romantic, fairytale content perfectly and I hope may entice some readers who have had their fill of the pink-and-lime green confections available in the so-called young women's market. The main thing about books for teenagers that most people don't know is this: a fair few are both more demanding and better-written than many adult books. Last year's Carnegie Medal winner "Postcards from No Man's Land" by Aidan Chambers is a thoughtful, subtle, controversial and (because of its themes of homosexuality and euthanasia) extremely topical novel. Adult readers who've enjoyed, for example, Pat Barker's books would be well-advised to try it. They'll be greatly rewarded. There's another work in the first batch of! Definitions which is the young woman's novel par excellence. It's called "I capture the castle" and it's by Dodie Smith, who has become a high-profile author thanks to the 101 Dalmatians...Once again, the cover is absolutely right and if ever a book deserved one of those "You'll love this or your money back" stickers, this is it. Congratulations to Red Fox for bringing it back to give delight to a whole new generation. And from me, heartfelt thanks for reviving the Egerton Hall trilogy over the next twelve months, and making it look so splendid.