CHOSEN AS AN INDIE NEXT
PICK FOR FEBRUARY 2012
BY THE AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS' ASSOCIATION

EARLY AMERICAN PRESS

‘The operative word … is pleasure’ – Publishers Weekly

‘Gorgeous’ – Library Journal

PRAISE FOR THE BRITISH EDITION

'One of the best three books of the year’ - Independent

Piet Barol is ‘a pure pulse of young manhood; not an everyman, but perhaps the fantasy everyman that every man would like to be’ – Times Literary Supplement

'A hugely accomplished novel - the story of Piet Barol, a young, provincial Dutchman and the social and sexual adventures he embarks upon in belle époque Amsterdam.'  The Independent Best Summer Reads

 ‘A ripping literary romp about the adventures of a dashing, athletic and sexually ambiguous young man’ – The Evening Standard

 ‘Enthralling and perfectly paced’ – The Observer

 ‘A saucy, hugely entertaining romp of a young man making his fortune in 1907 Amsterdam’ – The Sunday Times

'Mason tells his story with humour, charm, fine attention to detail and a healthy dose of eroticism.' – The Independent on Sunday

‘Readers of a sensitive disposition beware’ – The Lady

‘Piet Barol is a dashing young man of the Belle Époque who seduces his way into a life of decadence in this fast-paced historical page-turner.' – Easy Living, Summer Choice

PRAISE FROM AUTHORS AND BOOKSELLERS

‘Utterly wonderful!  What a glorious, baroque celebration of fully-rounded and utterly engaging characters…  The perfect literary read…  Piet Barol is as irresistible on the page as he clearly is to those who meet him and the book is alive with the machinery of the household, with every member of family and staff wholly alive…  But the thing that made it a particularly pleasurable read was the writing. Mason has ‘sprachgefühl’ – a wonderful word which means an appreciation and mastery of the nuances of language.  I loved the wit, the mischief, the bathos, the sense of sentences unfolding with elegant precision.  I found myself rereading passages, just for the pleasure of chewing over the language.’ - Jonathan Ruppin, Head of Fiction, Foyle’s, London, UK

"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 époque. I thought Piet was wonderfully drawn - rogueish and yet wholly sympathetic." - Alex Preston, author of This Bleeding City

 “Set in Amsterdam during the Belle Epoque, History of a Pleasure Seeker follows Piet Barol, the poor but cultured young tutor to a wealthy Dutch family. Piet is determined to drink life to the fullest, and this ambition alters not only his own life, but also the lives of those around him. Skillfully and evocatively rendered, this novel feels like its own guilty pleasure, redolent of lazy afternoons and late night liaisons.”  - Stesha Brandon, University Book Store, Seattle, WA

"Think Downton Abbey, in Amsterdam, with lots of sex, and not always between the usual suspects. History of a Pleasure Seeker is pure pleasure itself, the kind of old-fashioned, perfectly paced, beautifully written, acutely observed novel you don't want to end." - Marion Abbott, Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary Arts, CA

“Looking for something sexy and cultured for Valentine's Day? Slip into an elegant world of social tension, ambition, and sensuality with Richard Mason's latest novel. It's a Dutch "Upstairs,Downstairs" with pulse-raising encounters and music that will make you swoon!” - Tegan Tigani, Queen Anne Books, Seattle, WA

‘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’ - Greg Eden, Head of Fiction, Waterstones.com, UK

"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.  Thank God there's a sequel" - Daisy Goodwin