'The worst thing is when nothing, absolutely nothing happens to a person in a whole lifetime. Just think of that.' Enduring, or escaping from such a nothing is what James Hanley's beautifully controlled, exquisitely written novel [A Kingdom] is all about. On the face of it, nothing much does happen….

Death gives birth to links and significances previously slipped into the mind's back pockets, and this novel is not just about paternal dominance and filial acceptance … but about the recognition and acceptance of endurance. I cannot praise this book too highly. (p. 20)

Mary Hope, in The Spectator (© 1978 by The Spectator; reprinted by permission of The Spectator), August 26, 1978.