'An unsual elegance and lightness of touch, as well as a lingering underlying melancholy. It's nicely written too - the translation is as smooth as silk' Andrew Taylor, Spectator.

Observer

'At barely 200 pages, and with a note-perfect translation from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, The Spies shares with a cryptic crossword the virtue of succinctness, not a word or scene wasted' Hannah Rosefield, Observer.