“Patricia Schonstein is the Queen of Seduction.”

~ Philip Todres, Fine Music Radio, Cape Town

“A smorgasbord of local delights.”

~ Donald Paul, Cape Times

“In her fiction, people move between tragedy and joy. Her vision is life as theatre, at times playful, at times brutal, always compelling. Banquet at Brabazan is a dizzying ride of remarkable intensity.”

~ Margaret von Klemperer, The Witness

“In her previous A Time of Angels, I relished the sensual culinary dimension that was more fore-ground than background. Banquet at Brabazan retains the theme. All of her characters eat. Meals are described as graphically as the feelings and actions of characters … This lekker local author’s popularity is deservedly growing.”

~ Victor Strugo, Saturday Star

“A rich tapestry … tender, funny, sad and extremely charming.”

~ Babalwa Shota, City Press

“Banquet at Brabazan is an absolute delight. It’s like tasting sensational food for the first time; like an orchestra of sound that plays in your mouth; an explosion of emotion.”

~ Sarah Blake, Kowie Radio

“Delightful.”

~ Tarryn Brien, The Big Issue

“A great novel with realistic settings and wonderfully complex characters.”

~ Folio Books

“Like the alluring sparkle of a gem that catches one’s eye … textured and chiaroscuro-ed with colours, smells, decadent tastes and Shakespearian quotes … a startling mix of the familiar and the magical.”

~ Monique Broumels, The Cape Times

“Banquet at Brabazan left me feeling delighted and uncomfortable and sad and oddly uplifted… It’s confusing and delicious and unsettling. The characters are beautiful and strange and awkwardly special. There are beautiful costumes, romantic paintings, beautiful light and music… It is a really, really strange and totally haunting read. I want to be in the movie.”

~ Megan Head, www.meganshead.co.za

“There are few books that leave you with a sense of wonder – almost disbelief – that a writer can create a tale so fantastic, so delightful, that one wishes that one could meet this person, just to say hello and congratulate her on her writing. Banquet at Brabazan left me with that feeling. It is a wonderfully constructed love story in which fantasy and reality are blended in a beautiful tale of poetic beauty… Written with great skill and understanding of the human condition. Highly recommended.”

~ Dries Brunt, The Citizen