"A powerful contemporary fable about cultural clashes and individual yearnings . . . told with a cool restraint." -The Baltimore Sun

"Compellingly readable. . . . Impossible to pull away from. . . . [Phillips] has demonstrated a remarkably fluent ability to inhabit characters whose perspectives on life differ radically from his." -Los Angeles Times

"Astonishing. . . . Chilling. . . . A Distant Shore marks new heights in this author's narrative accomplishments." -The Miami Herald

"Suspenseful, atmospheric, adventurous." -The Independent

"A devastatingly sad, powerful work of displacement, loneliness and racism." -San Francisco Chronicle

"A page-savourer. . . . The plot is teased out with all the supple control of a superb craftsman in his prime. . . . A remarkable and penetrating novel." -The Times (London)

"Graceful and dizzying. . . . A novel of failed grasps at redemption and horrors that reduce characters to madness, murder, and incoherent grief." -The Christian Science Monitor

"A distillation of everything that makes Phillips' work so impressive: lucid, deceptively simple prose combined with huge ideas and complex emotion. . . . Arguably his most accomplished work to date." -Time Out (London)

"Intriguing. . . . Transcend[s] limitations of time and place. . . . [Phillips'] use of descriptive detail and subtle symbolism is achingly on point." -Black Issues Book Review

"Just the sort of writing that reminds us how vital fiction can be." -The Herald (Glasgow)

"Hums with ambition. . . . You can't help but admire Phillips' desire to explore . . . one of the great unexamined tragedies of our time." -The Guardian