Golden Hill

Back when New York has a population of 7,000 a mysterious trader arrives from London. No one can quite work out what his business might be, and he is clearly hiding something. You have to wait right to the end - through a series of wonderful picaresque scrapes - before you find out. But you get to do so in one of the best final double-twists ever dreamed up. Thrilling and highly imaginative.

It’s 1764 on Manhattan Island, and a stranger from London arrives at a small town called New York. He expects to receive a thousand pounds. A cast of dynamic characters appear. There are intrigues and adventures. All writers try to be vibrant on the page—to write smart, vivid, witty descriptions and dialogue. And then you come upon a writer like Francis Spufford, who is able, somehow, do it a degree or two better than everyone else.