‘James Scudamore is now a force in the English novel, his voice calm and assured. English Monsters is psychologically astute as a study of collusion and denial, and effective as a picture of time and class; but it has wider reach, as a story about the limits of empathy, the ease of retribution and the difficulty of justice.’ Hilary Mantel
‘Breathtakingly good. Imagine Edward St Aubyn writing The Secret History and you’ll get an idea of how exquisite and compelling this story about male friendship and betrayal is.’ Alex Preston, Observer
‘Heart-wrenching… A searing indictment of a culture that downplays and covers up horrors… Harrowing, deeply moving and richly insightful, this is Scudamore’s best novel yet.’ Philip Womack, Financial Times
‘Written in cool, clear-eyed prose, English Monsters is a taut psychological thriller and an astute comment on the institutional neuroses that now haunt our nation.’ Amanda Craig, Daily Telegraph
‘Dark, tender, troubling… It is impossible to read [English Monsters] and not to think of the present blight of emotionally cauterised boarding-school politicians whose various pathologies, fantasies and defence mechanisms Britain must continue to endure.’ Edward Docx, Guardian
