Page:The Spoils of Poynton (London, William Heinemann, 1897).djvu/309



The Speaker.—'A Victim of Good Luck is one of those breezy stories of his in which the reader finds himself moving in good society, among men or women who are neither better nor worse than average humanity, but who always show good manners and good breeding. . . . Suffice it to say that the story is as readable as any we have yet had from the same pen.'

The Daily Telegraph.—'A Victim of Good Luck is one of the brightest novels of the year, which cannot but enhance its gifted author's well-deserved fame and popularity.'

The World.—'Here is Mr. Norris in his best form again, giving us an impossible story with such imperturbable composure, such quiet humour, easy polish, and irresistible persuasiveness, that he makes us read A Victim of Good Luck right through with eager interest and unflagging amusement without being aware, until we regretfully reach the end, that it is just a farcical comedy in two delightful volumes.'

The Daily Chronicle.—'It has not a dull page from first to last. Any one with normal health and taste can read a book like this with real pleasure.'

The Globe.—'Mr. W. E. Norris is a writer who always keeps us on good terms with ourselves. We can pick up or lay down his books at will, but they are so pleasant in style and equable in tone that we do not usually lay them down till we have mastered them; A Victim of Good Luck is a more agreeable novel than most of this author's.'

The Westminster Gazette.—'A Victim of Good Luck is in Mr. Norris's best vein, which means that it is urbane, delicate, lively, and flavoured with a high quality of refined humour. Altogether a most refreshing book, and we take it as a pleasant reminder that Mr. Norris is still very near his highwater mark. '

The Spectator.—'Mr. Norris displays to the full his general command of narrative expedients which are at once happily invented and yet quite natural which seem to belong to their place in the book, just as a keystone belongs to its place in the arch. . . . The brightest and cleverest book which Mr. Norris has given us since he wrote The Rogue.'

The Saturday Review.—'Novels which are neither dull, unwholesome, morbid, nor disagreeable, are so rare in these days, that A Victim of Good Luck. . . ought to find a place in a book-box filled for the most part with light literature. . . . We think it will increase the reputation of an already very popular author.'

The Scotsman.—'A Victim of Good Luck, like others of this author's books, depends little on incident and much on the conception and drawing of character, on clever yet natural conversation, and on the working out, with masterly ease, of a novel problem of right and inclination. '


 * WILLIAM HEINEMANN,, W.C.