Extracts from Reviews

THE WORLD.—"To be able to go round the world nowadays, and write a descriptive record of the tour that is vivid and fresh is a positive literary feat. It has been successfully accomplished in Our Stolen Summer by Mrs. Boyd, who with no ulterior object in making a book journeyed over four continents in company with her husband, and picked up en route matter for one of the pleasantest, most humorous, and least pretentious books of travel we have read for many a day. It is admirably illustrated by Mr. A.S. Boyd, whose sense of humour happily matches that of his observant wife, and the reader who can lay aside this picturesque and truly delightful volume without sincere regret must have a dull and dreary mind."

PUNCH.—"Our Stolen Summer is calculated to lead to wholesale breakage of the Eighth Commandment. Certainly, my Baronite, reading the fascinating record of a roundabout tour, feels prompted to steal away. Mary Stuart Boyd, who pens the record, has the great advantage of the collaboration of A.S.B., whose signature is familiar in Mr. Punch's Picture Gallery.... A charming book."

SPECTATOR.—"The writer, by the help of a ready pen and of the pencil of a skilful illustrator, has given us in this handsome volume a number of attractive pictures of distant places.... It is good to read and pleasant to look at."

TRUTH.—"You will find no pleasanter holiday reading than Our Stolen Summer."

ACADEMY.—"A fresh record, and worth the reading. Of such is Mrs. Boyd's volume, which her husband has illustrated profusely with spirited line drawings."

FIELD.—"One of the brightest books of travel that it has been our good fortune to read. The illustrations deserve a notice to themselves. They are far and away better than those which we usually get in books of this kind, and we do not know that we can bestow higher praise on them than to say that they are worthy of the letterpress which they illustrate."

LAND AND WATER.—"A delightful sketch of a delightful journey.... Our Stolen Summer is a book which will be read with equal delight on a lazy summer holiday, or in the heart of London when the streets are enveloped in fog and the rain is beating against the window panes. Mr. Boyd's sketches are simply admirable."

SPHERE.—"A delightful record of travel. Mrs. Boyd is never dull, and there is plenty of acute observation throughout her pleasant story of travel. My Boyd's illustrations which appear on practically every page, are, it need scarcely be said, up to the high level that is already familiar to students of his black-and-white work."

LADIES' FIELD.—"A singularly delightful and unaffected book of travel."

MADAME.—"One of the most delightful books of travel it has been our good fortune to read."

MORNING POST.—"If the encouragement of globe-trotting be a virtuous action, then certainly Mrs. Stuart Boyd has deserved well of her country. To read her book is to conceive an insensate desire to be off and away on 'the long trail' at all hazards and at all costs.... Mr. Boyd's illustrations add greatly to the interest and charm of the book. There is movement, atmosphere, and sunshine in them."

STANDARD.—"Mrs. Boyd went with her husband round the world, and the latter—an artist with a sense of humour—kept his hand in practice by making droll sketches of people encountered by the way, which heighten the charm of his wife's vivacious description of a Stolen Summer. Mrs. Boyd has quick eyes and an open mind, and writes with sense and sensibility."

DAILY TELEGRAPH.—"It is not so much what Mrs. Boyd has to tell as the invariable good humour and brightness with which she records even the most familiar things that makes the charm of her excellent diary."

DAILY CHRONICLE.—"Mrs. Boyd has written the log with sparkle and observation—seeing many things that the mere man-traveller would miss. Mr. Boyd's sketches are, of course, excellent."

PALL MALL GAZETTE.—"Mrs. Boyd writes with so much buoyancy, and her humour is so unexpected and unfailing, that it is safe to say that there is not a dull page from first to last in this record of a tour round the world... Mr. A.S. Boyd's numerous illustrations show him at his very best."

GLOBE.—"A work to acquire as well as to peruse."

WESTMINSTER GAZETTE.—"The narrative from beginning to end does not contain a dull page. Of Mr. Boyd's numerous sketches it is only necessary to say that they are excellent. Altogether Our Stolen Summer will be found to be one of the most fascinating of recent books of travel."

SUNDAY TIMES.—"Brilliantly and entertainingly written, and liberally illustrated by an acknowledged master of the art of black and white."

SCOTSMAN.—"A beautiful and fascinating book.... Pen and pencil sketches alike have grace, nerve, and humour, and are alive with human interest and observation."

GLASGOW HERALD.—"One of the most delightful travel-books of recent times.... Mrs. Boyd's volume must commend itself to people who contemplate visiting the other side of the globe and to all stay-at-home travellers as well."

DAILY FREE PRESS.—"Mrs. Boyd is an admirable descriptive writer—observant, humorous, and sympathetic. Without illustrations, Our Stolen Summer would be a notable addition to the literature of travel; with Mr. Boyd's collaboration it is almost unique."

LEEDS MERCURY.—"Vivacious and diverting record."

YORKSHIRE DAILY POST.—"For such a book there could be nothing but praise if one wrote columns about it."

BIRMINGHAM DAILY POST.—"A singularly happy and interesting record of a most enjoyable tour."

NORTHERN WHIG.—"Shrewdness of observation, with not a little humour and a real literary gift, mark the story of Our Stolen Summer."

THE BOOKMAN.—"Mrs. Boyd writes with so much brightness, such vivacity and picturesqueness of style, that although the volume runs to close upon four hundred pages there is not a dull page among them. The success of Our Stolen Summer, however, is due as much to the artist as to the author; and praise must be equally divided. Mr. Boyd's sketches are spirited, clever, full of humour and sympathetic observation. Without a word of letter-press they would have formed an excellent travel-book; taken in conjunction with Mrs. Boyd's narrative they are irresistible."