At Last

'At Last is a miraculously wrought piece of art' Suzi Feay, Financial Times 'Urgent emotional intensity, brilliant social satire ... A terrifying, spectacularly entertaining saga' James Lasdun, Guardian 'Remarkable. St Aubyn's books are at once extremely dark and extremely funny' Francine Prose, New York Times 'The pinnacle of a series that has plunged into darkness and risen towards light. At Last is both resounding end and hopeful beginning' Philip Womack, Telegraph 'At once epic and intimate, appalling and comic, the Melrose novels are masterpieces' Maggie O'Farrell 'The Melrose novels are remarkable -- ferociously funny, painfully acute and exhilaratingly written. A brilliantly controlled story of a life sent out of control' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times 'Clearly one of the major achievements of contemporary British fiction. Stingingly well-written and exhilaratingly funny' David Sexton, Evening Standard 'From the very first lines I was completely hooked ... By turns witty, moving and an intense social comedy, I wept at the end but wouldn't dream of giving away the totally unexpected reason' Antonia Fraser, Sunday Telegraph 'Wonderful caustic wit ... Perhaps the very sprightliness of the prose -- its lapidary concision and moral certitude -- represents the cure for which the characters yearn. So much good writing is in itself a form of health' Edmund White, Guardian 'Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation' Alan Hollinghurst 'Humor, pathos, razor-sharp judgement, pain, joy and everything in between. The Melrose novels are a masterwork for the 21st century, by one of our greatest prose stylists' Alice Sebold 'A masterpiece. Edward St Aubyn is a writer of immense gifts' Patrick McGrath 'His prose has an easy charm that masks a ferocious, searching intellect. As a sketcher of character, his wit -- whether turned against pointless members of the aristocracy or hopeless crack dealers -- is ticklingly wicked. As an analyser of broken minds and tired hearts he is as energetic, careful and creative as the perfect shrink. And when it comes to spinning a good yarn, whether over the grand scale or within a single page of anecdote, he has a natural talent for keeping you on the edge of your seat' Melissa Katsoulis, The Times 'The wit of Wilde, the lightness of Wodehouse and the waspishness of Waugh. A joy' Zadie Smith, Harpers 'Blackly comic, superbly written fiction ... His style is crisp and light; his similes exhilarating in their accuracy ... St Aubyn writes with luminous tenderness of Patrick's love for his sons' Caroline Moore, Sunday Telegraph 'The darkest possible comedy about the cruelty of the old to the young, vicious and excruciatingly honest. It opened my eyes to a whole realm of experience I have never seen written about. That's the mark of a masterpiece' The Times 'I've loved Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose novels. Read them all, now' David Nicholls 'Beautifully written, excruciatingly funny and also very tragic' Mariella Frostrup, Sky Magazine