Oliver Soden is a writer and broadcaster. His first book, a biography of the composer Michael Tippett, was a Book of the Year in the Observer, Times Literary Supplement and Spectator. It was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Prize and won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Storytelling. Soden's essays and reviews have appeared in publications including the Guardian, Literary Review and Art Newspaper. He grew up in Bath and Sussex, and lives in London.
What a pleasure it is to read a book into which so much labour, and
so much affection, have evidently gone. But the labour is never
flaunted and the affection is mingled with the same sophisticated
irony that made Coward such a giant of the theatre. This is the
biography - truthful, sympathetic and thorough - that Coward
deserves
*Daily Telegraph*
Assiduous, even-handed, readable . . . astute
*The Times*
Excellent . . . reveals Coward to be a more complex individual than
we had acknowledged
*Guardian*
A captivating biography
*Financial Times*
This is a sympathetic and very touching biography. Soden makes the
daring decision to write occasional sections in imitation of
Coward's style. Not every biographer would be up to this, but Soden
pulls it off. The ending is particularly good - first skating
around Coward's last days, letting him evaporate like Elvira, then
giving us a chorus of biographers, boyfriends and household
servants to narrate it in detail. But the whole book is beautifully
done, and will last . . . There's every reason to think Coward will
last forever - and this excellent biography is just what he
deserves
*Spectator*
Soden, who has had access to unpublished diaries and letters, comes
up with a far more complex Coward than we have seen before... This
is a highly illuminating book that makes us reconsider Coward
*Country Life*
Masquerade is a pleasure to read - not just for Oliver Soden's
splendid survey of Coward's life, but also for the rhythm and tempo
of his writing as he parries with his mercurial subject. This
Coward commands our empathy: more real, more mortal, "more Noël
than Coward", as Soden intended... His fallibility renders him more
likeable, lovable even. With this enriched arc from conception to
denouement, the myth is made man. At last, the character of Noël
Coward makes sense.
*The Critic*
Praise for Michael Tippett: The Biography An exceptional piece of
work
*Philip Hensher, Spectator*
Praise for Michael Tippett: The Biography
Generous, game-changing biography
*Observer*
Praise for Michael Tippett: The Biography
That rarest of things: a genuine landmark publication
*BBC Radio 3 Music Matters*
Praise for Jeoffrey: The Poet's Cat
Simply unforgettable ... one of the most beautiful and haunting
books of recent times
*Alexander McCall Smith*
Praise for Jeoffrey: The Poet's Cat
Inspired and original
*Hilary Mantel*
Praise for Jeoffrey: The Poet's Cat
I intend to give a copy to everyone I like
*Andrew O’Hagan*
Soden's verve and way of handling the subject completely breathes
new life into an absolutely extraordinary story . . . I really
recommend it, it's a fascinating look at somebody who is still
relevant fifty years after his death
*THE REST IS ENTERTAINMENT*
A masterly account of the Master - including stuff we didn't know
before. And so beautifully and entertainingly written
*Gyles Brandreth*
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