The Fair Fight - Tapa dura

The Fair Fight is a hugely exciting and entertaining novel, written with warmth, charm, authority and, above all, terrific flair. I loved it. (SARAH WATERS)

(A) cracking debut... It is a lively, rambunctious read which captures Bristol street life brilliantly and niftily sets the scene for a memorable collection of characters who are prepared to gamble everything to gain hope and some form of happiness. (Eithne Farry SUNDAY EXPRESS)

Anna Freeman's familiarity with this rough and raunchy period of history and her wonderfully imagined cast of characters, often down but never out, makes this a brilliant debut novel. (Rose Wild THE TIMES)

This storming debut is fiction at its most absorbing. It'll be first in line for Freeman's next offering. (Kat Poole STYLIST)

For lovers of the evocative historical romps of Sarah Waters and Michel Faber this is a visceral and funny debut. (EMERALD STREET)

(Anna's) enthusiasm for the subject matter and her skill at creating powerful narrative voices are in strong evidence in this gritty, vividly evoked historical novel. Fans of Sarah Waters and Emma Donoghue, take note. (DIVA MAGAZINE)

An accomplished first novel that reminded me somewhat of Peter Carey's Jack Maggs. (NED DENNY DAILY MAIL)

lively and original (THE SUNDAY TIMES)

Passion and pugilism ...(an) original, memorable debut novel. (Nick Rennison BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE)

Freeman's first novel is shocking but a cracker. The writing is good and the characters totally believable. I loved it. (LESLEY PEARSE SAINBURYS MAGAZINE)