Last Saturday, the 21st November, the Fox, Finch & Tepper team awoke to the fantastic sound of a newspaper thudding heavily onto our doormat. Amidst the heroes and villains of modern day news, was a charming Sempé illustration of three children ice-skating and a strange-looking man striding through the snow. And alongside this artwork was the very first full review of one of our books!

We had packed up a number of our books and posted them out to the great and the good of the book-press world around the UK, hoping to secure a little corner of review coverage. So we were were delighted when Eileen Battersby, chief literary critic at The Irish Times and a big supporter of translated fiction, called us to say that she loved “The Story of Mr Sommer”. In fact, she loved it so much that she wrote this fantastic detailed review all about our little book, its intriguing characters and Patrick Süskind’s wonderful writing. You can read the full article by clicking here. In the mean-time here’s one of my favourite bits:

“This simple, deliberate and very human book is a revelation – not only about Süskind’s art but also as a study of the simple loneliness of a happy child, juxtaposed against a sombre backdrop, and the relentless agonies of a soul in torment.”

What a cracking review. Thanks to Eileen and to the team at The Irish Times for featuring The Story of Mr Sommer.