The Golden Rule

Amanda Craig Press Reviews

A highly enjoyable story about female resilience and finding fulfilment on your own terms, with a twist that is all the more compelling for its unexpectedness - Sunday Times

An irresistible summer read: a rollicking plot, a heroine who is more than a match for anything the author throws at her and meaty social issues - Guardian Book of the Day

The plot becomes so gripping - the sort of story where you want to pull the heroine out of the pages away from danger . - The Times

A typically sharp and hugely satisfying page-turner about two women who decide to murder each other's husbands - Daily Mail

Such an interesting read! . . . A story of lies - and learning that people aren't always who they appear to be -- Nina Pottell - Prima

A pacy state-of-the-nation drama that tackles issues from domestic abuse to workplace harassment, gentrification to the gig economy - Mail on Sunday

Clever and compelling, The Golden Rule is a modern mash-up of Rebecca and Strangers on a Train - Red

The Golden Rule does what her novels do best, wrapping the reader in a tight, lean narrative, showing the strangeness that lies at the heart of normal-seeming lives - Observer

An acute and passionate observer of society in both town and country, and among rich and poor. She is harrowingly good at portraying the corrosive effects of poverty, particularly on vulnerable women with children to protect. Her prose is a delight...Best of all, Craig has the knack of creating interesting characters and of making one care about what lies in store for them. If you can do that, nothing else really matters -- Andrew Taylor - Spectator

Perceptive and wise, particularly on the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor - Independent

She's such a skilful storyteller who vividly dramatises our lives with wit, wisdom and compassion Strangers on a Train meets #MeToo - Sunday Times

Craig's ninth novel is one of her best. A clever take on Beauty and the Beast and Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train, it is also an astute commentary on life in Cornwall and the widening gap between the city rich and rural poor - The i

Addictive . . . a wide-ranging, incisive portrait of contemporary Britain - Independent

We reckon this cracker of a novel about the haves and the have-nots will whip you into a page-turning frenzy - Sunday Post

If you like your novels wide-ranging, ambitious, socially panoramic, and engaged in the most important issues of the day, Amanda Craig is the writer for you. For more than twenty years now she has been anatomising the state of the British nation with wit and empathy I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed The Golden Rule - evening reading that I looked forward to for days. Such a strong narrative, constantly taking you by surprise, persuasive setting, Hannah a sympathetic central figure - and the clash between different lifestyles. Very much a novel of our times -- Penelope Lively

I really enjoyed The Golden Rule. I still love novels that have proper, well-constructed plots and Amanda Craig is a delicious storyteller -- Rose Tremain

A tight, lean thriller about two women who decide to murder each other's husbands. Dotted throughout are Craig's acute observations of society, in particular the corrosive effects of poverty. Yet this skilful storyteller is never preachy. We are swept along because of her knack of creating characters we care about. Only on closing the book do we realise we've not just been entertained but made to think too -- Rachel Kelly - The Tablet