Page:In The Cage (London, Duckworth, 1898).djvu/196

 Crown 8vo, art vellum, dull gold top. 6s.

'The idea is a strange and poetic one, and the book has an atmosphere. On the conception of Christian the author may be congratulated. He is ideal without sentimentality, and his sacrifice and death have the poignancy of reality, symbol though he is of the world's greatest idea. The reader must pocket his criticising spirit and simply give himself up to the spell of the writer of The Unknown Sea. She has imagination, charm, and a haunting Celtic sadness about her style that one does not often meet with.'

'The Unknown Sea is a novel, but it is like no other novel. It is the most exquisite allegory that has been written for a long time. In the unhappy and ascetic passion of Christian the fisherman for Diadyomene, the maiden of the sea, we may read obscurely the secular struggle of spirit and flesh. But the allegory may be what it will. The story is justified of itself, and has a certain palely imaginative quality that is of a strange delicacy.'—Newcastle Chronicle.

'The poetry and mysticism of the story are its great charms. A delicate fancy and a rich imagination have enabled the author to invest it with singular impressiveness. The reader need not be envied who can lay aside the book unfinished, nor, let it be added, who is unable to appreciate the dainty fashion in which the tale is treated. The Unknown Sea is not a popular novel—there is too much really fine work in it for that; but hardly a page fails to indicate the author's delicate methods and robust individuality.'

'There is considerable poetic feeling in The Unknown Sea. To those who have not lost a taste for legendary lore we commend the book, feeling that if it is all mere fancy on the author's part, and there is no legend here why, there ought to be.'—Standard.

'A writer of rare promise. The theme is original, and its treatment is marked by a degree of imaginative power that is weirdly impressive. One of the most remarkable stories that has been put in our hands for a considerable period.'—Aberdeen Free Press.

'Miss Housman is the true sister of her gifted brothers, and here her imagination has had full play.'—Academy.

'Original, fresh, and metaphorical. Romantic and well conceived.'—Leeds Mercury. LONDON: DUCKWORTH AND CO.