ITHNE FARRY, THE DAILY MAIL - 13.05.11 "rich in period detail and with requisite glittering trappings, it's the sex that is most carefully observed in Mason's lusty romp… Not for the bashful."

INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY - 15.05.11 "Mason tells his story with humour, charm, fine attention to detail and a healthy dose of eroticism."

Alex Preston, author of This Bleeding City "a masterpiece. Like Henry James on viagra. Not only gripping as hell, but brilliantly arranges that the imagined world of Maarten and Jacobina's household sits entirely within Amsterdam of the belle epoque. I thought Piet was wonderfully drawn - rogueish and yet wholly sympathetic."

Greg Eden, Waterstones.com "A hugely accomplished novel, the story of Piet Barol, a young, provincial Dutchman and the social and sexual adventure he embarks upon when he is employed as a tutor to one of the richest families in belle époque Amsterdam. Rich with period detail and characterised by pitch-perfect dialogue and a cast of carefully drawn characters, it explores themes of ambition, fidelity and class, and ratchets up the tension as our young hero walks a knife-edge between social/financial success and total ruin"