Page:The Spoils of Poynton (London, William Heinemann, 1897).djvu/314



The Speaker.—'In his first book, Mr. Bailey-Martin, Mr. White gave us a remarkable picture of the sordidness of life in a suburban household. In the present volume he rises to a higher social level, and treats of rising members of Parliament, of political leaders, and even of Prime Ministers. . . . The sketches of types are both forcible and true.'

The Pall Mall Gazette.—'None can travel over his brightly-written pages without being gladdened by the little flashes of epigram which light up the scene for us, or stirred by the shrewdness and worldly wisdom which he has put into the mouths of his characters. One of the charms of the book lies in the conviction that its author knows the world, and is full of a broad, full knowledge, and therefore sympathy with the foibles, passions, and sins with which it abounds. . . . It is a sermon preached on the old Æschylian text, that the evil doer must always suffer. The book is a drama of biting intensity, a tragedy of inflexible purpose and relentless result.'

The Daily News.—'Will appeal to many tastes. There is intrigue enough in it for those who love a story of the ordinary kind, and the political part is perhaps rather more attractive in its sparkle and variety of incident than the real thing itself.'

The Daily Telegraph..—'Corruption more than fulfils the brilliant promise of Mr. Bailey-Martin. . . . As its title indicates, it deals with the political and social cankers of the day, which it lays bare with a fearless and unerring touch.'

The Standard.—'The scenes in the South of France are particularly well done; without any attempt at local colour Mr. White has caught the atmosphere skilfully, and there are one or two clever touches of which he appears unconscious. Taking the book as a whole, it is written with ease and knowledge, and has about it nothing of the amateur.'

The Graphic.—'A very able piece of work.'

Black and White.—'The risqué situation is wrought with brilliance and subtilty. . . . Mrs. Mannering recalls Becky Sharp; and Carew is a typical man of the day. . . . Mr. Percy White assuredly takes rank with the foremost of the society writers.'

The Globe.—'A graphic picture of social life.'

The Glasgow Herald.—'The characters are well conceived and cleverly portrayed; the dialogue is crisp and sparkling. There is not a dull moment in the volume.'


 * WILLIAM HEINEMANN,, W.C.