Publishers Weekly

Few emerging novelists–or experienced ones–could handle the kinds of challenges Barton deftly accepts in this triumphant debut.

– Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Testament of Yves Gundron

“Few emerging novelists—or experienced ones—could handle the kinds of challenges Barton deftly accepts in this triumphant debut… For all of her storytelling prowess—and this book is exuberant with story—Barton’s real asset is her febrile imagination. Mandragora’s quotidian routines are detailed so convincingly, and so lovingly that the reader starts to resent the encroaching future, with ”˜its hum and its terrible energy,’ as much as Yves himself does. Barton’s intelligent and amusing facility with idioms and speech patterns rooted in Middle English injects a dynamic historical feel into her truly visionary project.”