A View of the Empire at Sunset: A Novel - Hardcover

"One can see instantly the liberation that Phillips achieves and the added textures he can subtly import . . . In this meshing of Phillips as writer and Rhys as subject all the great themes of Phillips’s fiction cohere in the difficult, dislocated, lonely life of Gwen Williams . . . That the novel succeeds so well is a tribute to Phillip’s mastery of tone . . . It is a novel of acute psychological empathy and understanding.” ―The New York Times Book Review

“Under [Phillips’] deft hand, the prose subtly implies more than it tells . . . Phillips illuminates the irony of global race relations.” ―Christian Science Monitor

“You can taste Rhys, but it’s still Phillips’ exotic stew. . . His narrative is about homeland, family, alienation, loneliness, and need. His Gwennie is a masterfully drawn character, as dissolute, yet as determined, as Rhys’ tragic characters. . . His sentences are as sharp as etchings in glass.” ―The Memphis Flyer

“Distinguished novelist and essayist Phillips explores with rigor and artistry the ever-after effects of the toxic double-helix of racism and imperialism embodied in the African diaspora in the Caribbean, England, and America . . . A daring fictionalization . . . Hypnotic . . . Phillips’ bravura, empathic, and unnerving performance makes the real-world achievement of his muse all the more surprising and significant.” ―Booklist (starred review)

“Haunting . . . Phillips is at his best in this powerful evocation of Rhys’s vision, which illuminates both her time and the present.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)