Page:The Spoils of Poynton (London, William Heinemann, 1897).djvu/328



The Athenæum.—'Told with a force and directness that hold the reader's attention throughout. . . . A stirring and interesting novel.'

The Academy.—'As a study of character, the work is admirable.'

The Saturday Review.—'A finely conceived study. The book is true without being sordid—realistic in the better meaning of the word; and we have read it with the greatest interest and some stirrings of emotion.'

The National Observer.—'The strong and true spirit of the husband gives an ennobling study of humanity worth many plots. Miss Sergeant has risen to her earlier level in this book, a fine study of character, and it is only just to say that it is also strong in detail.'

The World.—'A work to which the much-used adjective "beautiful" may be applied with full intention and strict justice.'

The Daily Chronicle.—'Miss Sergeant has given her best matter, treated in her best manner.'

The Daily News.—'A moving story. In the delineation of the softening of the man's spirit, and of the mental struggles by which he reaches to forgiveness of his wife, Miss Sergeant shows a fine imagination. This is the best book of Miss Sergeant's that has come under our notice for some time.'

The Globe.—'Miss Sergeant follows her hero with a rare grasp of descriptive detail. The concluding chapters of the book reach a high level of pathos, dignity, and convincing humanity.'

Black and White.—'Gideon Blake is a fine creation; and the record of his devotion to the unworthy Emmy, and his attempted expiation of her sins, is forcibly wrought. The closing tragedy, simply treated, is impressive.'

The Literary World.—'The story is well put together, and has points of more than passing interest and importance.'

The Scotsman.—'It is in the development of the great theme of a man's undying constancy to his erring partner, and his eventual forgiveness of her offence, that the author rises to a height of true dramatic power seldom attained in the modern novel. On its merits the story is worthy of a high place in contemporary fiction.'

Birmingham Daily Post.—'The character of Gideon Blake, the intense and strong-minded husband of the fragile Emmy, is a fine creation, based on the harder types of moral grandeur.'

Bradford Observer.—'The tale is sincerely and touchingly written. Its characters are veritable flesh and blood.'


 * WILLIAM HEINEMANN,, W.C.