Product Description

'A Likeness' is a wonderful, rich, absorbing historical novel following the fortunes of a struggling artist around the courtly world of Elizabethan London.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3411817 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Elle
'A treasure chest of detail, A Likeness is all about love and art...summer reading selection.'

Observer
'...a vivid tale...while the plot is pacy enough,it is Oversall's rich language that intoxicates.'

Customer Reviews

A work of art
Sonia Overall has crafted a finely drawn portrait of Elizabethan life, a time when plague and politics could prove equally fatal. The vivid language makes scenes and characters spring from the page fully formed and vital and the artfully constructed narrative draws the reader in and will not let go even beyond the final sentence. The novel reawakened my interest in this period of history and inspired me to seek out the work of some of the artists encountered by the narrator. An excellent novel and a strong debut.

brilliant debut
Picked it up in paperback as a present for my wife. Started reading it and had to get her something else after bending the spine back on the train. Surprisingly gripped by it as not the sort of thing I normally read. Wife loves historical stuff but this is much more intelligent than the bodice stuff she normally goes for. Bit of a stretch. Great vocab. Cant believe this is really a first book by the author as it seems very acomplished. Will look out for the next one.

A Fine Likeness
This debut novel by Kent author Sonia Overall shows a comic gift and a great feel for how we might like to imagine the textures, colours and attitudes of Tudor England. She blends descriptive passages of rich beauty with hilarious cod-Elizabethan dialogue that invite the reader to join in on the novel's sense of dark fun.
It's great to read a portrait of an artist as a young man that actually involves an intriguing story. "A Likeness" gets that old balance right between being a novel of character and a novel of plot. I feel this book shows the novelist's ability to write in any style or format she chooses; I wouldn't be surprised if this as yet understated debut novel turns out to prove the worthy beginning of a long and acclaimed literary career.