"A story of sustained power from beginning to end, it is put together according to the true principles of art; moreover, we congratulate the author upon her hero and heroine. Ninette, in her simple untaught rectitude of conduct, her innate modesty, and child-like faith, recalls some of the happiest touches in the Lucia of the immortal 'Promessi Sposi.'"—Church Quarterly Review.

"'Ninette' is something more than a novel; it is a careful and elaborate study of life among the ProvenÇal hills, and, as such, deserves special attention. It is a pretty tale of true love, with its usual accompaniments of difficulty and trouble, which are all overcome in the long run."—Library World.

"'Ninette' is evidently based on long and intimate acquaintance with French rural districts, is excellently written, and cannot fail to please."—Scotsman.

"'A Crooked Path' is, to say the least, as good a novel as the best of the many good novels which Mrs. Alexander has written; indeed, most people, even those who remember 'The Wooing O't.' will consider it the most satisfactory of them all, as a piece of literary work, as well as the most interesting as a story. Starting from a point so common as the suppression of a will, the reader before long finds himself following her into the least expected yet the most natural developments, reaching poetical justice at the end by equally natural and equally unlooked-for means. The portraiture is invariably adequate, and the background well-filled."—Graphic.

"Our old friend the governess makes a re-entry into fiction under the auspices of Beatrice Whitby in 'One Reason Why.' Readers generally, however, will take a great deal more interest, for once, in the children than in their instructress. 'Bay' and 'Ellie' are charmingly natural additions to the children of novel-land; so much so, that there is a period when one dreads a death-bed scene for one of them—a fear which is happily unfulfilled. The name of the authoress will be remembered by many in conjunction with 'The Awakening of Mary Fenwick.'"—Graphic.

"Every page of 'One Reason Why' shows the mark of a fresh, vigorous mind. The style is good—in some parts excellent. It is clear, expressive, and often rhythmic."—Scotsman.

"Mr. Manville Fenn has the gift of not only seeing truth, but of drawing it picturesquely. His portrait of Mahme Nousie is faithful as well as touching. Like all her race she is a being of one idea, and that idea is her child. To keep her away from the island, to have her brought up as a lady, it is for this that Nousie has opened a cabaret for the negroes and has sat at the receipt of custom herself. Of course she never once thinks of the shock that the girl must undergo when she is plunged suddenly into such a position, she never thinks about anything but the fact that she is to have her child again. Her gradual awakening, and the struggles of both mother and daughter to hide their pain, are finely told. So is the story of how they both remained 'faithful unto death.' History has a power to charm which is often lacking in tales of higher pretensions."—Saturday Review.

"'The Idea of March' is a capital book. The plot does not depend for its interest upon anything more fantastic than an old gentleman's belief that a family curse will take effect unless his son marries by a given date. The complications which arise from this son's being really in love with a girl whom he believes to have treated his friend, Captain Disney, vary badly, and getting engaged to another girl, who transfers her affections to the same Captain Disney, are skilfully worked out, while the dialogue is, in parts, extremely bright, and the description of the founding of the Norchester branch of the Women's Sanitary League really funny."—Literary World.

"'The Idea of March,' in spite of its classical name, is a story of the present time, and a very good one, full of lively conversation, which carries us merrily on, and not without a fund of deeper feeling and higher principal."—Guardian.

"The book is a thoroughly good one. The theme is fairly familiar—the rebellion of a spirited girl against a match which has been arranged for her without her knowledge or consent; her resentment at being treated, not as a woman with, a heart and will, but as 'part of the property'; and her final discovery, which is led up to with real dramatic skill, that the thing against which her whole nature had risen in revolt has become the one desire of her heart. The mutual relations each to each of the impetuous Hedge, her self-willed, stubborn grandfather, who has arranged the match, and her lover Jocelyn, with his loyal, devoted, sweetly-balanced nature, are portrayed with fine truth of insight; but perhaps the author's greatest triumph is the portrait of Mrs. Lindsay, who, with the knowledge of the terrible skeleton in the cupboard of her apparently happy home, wears so bravely the mask of light gaiety as to deceive everybody but the one man who knows her secret. It is refreshing to read a novel in which there is not a trace of slipshod work."

"'Caspar Brooke's Daughter' is as good as other stories from the same hand—perhaps better, it is not of the sort that has much really marked originality or force of style, yet there is a good deal of clever treatment in it It was quite on the cards that Caspar himself might prove a bore or a prig or something else equally annoying. His daughter, too—the fair and innocent convent-bred girl—would in some hands have been really tedious. The difficulties of the leading situation—a daughter obliged to pass from one parent to another on account of their 'incompatibility'—are cleverly conveyed. The wife's as well as the husband's part is treated with feeling and reticence—qualities which towards the end disappear to a certain extent. It is a story in some ways—not in all—above the average."—AthenÆum.

"'Janet' is one of the ablest of the author's recent novels; perhaps the ablest book of the kind that she has produced since the Carlingford series; and its ability is all the more striking because, while the character material is so simple, it is made to yield, without any forced manipulation, a product of story which is rich in strong dramatic situations."—Manchester Examiner.

"Mrs. Oliphant's hand has lost none of its cunning, despite her extraordinary—and, one would think, exhausting—industry. 'Janet' may fairly rank among the best of her recent productions."—St. James's Gazette.

"'Janet' is really an exciting story, and contains a great deal more plot and incident than has been the case in any of Mrs. Oliphant's recent novels. The character sketches are worthy of their authorship."—Queen.

"In common, we should imagine, with a large circle of novel-readers, we have been rather impatiently looking forward to the time when M. E. Le Clerc, the author of 'Mistress Beatrice Cope,' would produce a successor to that singularly interesting and charming tale. 'A Rainbow at Night,' though it certainly lacks the romantic and dramatic character, combined with the flavour of a fascinating period, which gave special distinction to its forerunner, has no trace of falling off in the essential matters of construction, portraiture, and style."—Graphic.

"Thanks to an interesting plot and a graphic as well as refined manner, 'A Rainbow at Night,' when once commenced, will not readily be laid aside."—Morning Post.

"A description of a home stripped by the cold wind of poverty of all its comforts, but which remains home still. The careless optimism of the head of the family would be incredible, if we did not know how men exist full of responsibilities yet free from solicitudes, and who tread with a jaunty step the very verge of ruin; his inconsolable widow would be equally improbable, if we did not meet every day with women who devote themselves to such idols or clay. The characters of their charming children, whose penury we deplore do not deteriorate, as often happens in that cruel ordeal. A sense of fairness pervades the book which is rarely found in the work of a lady. There is interest in it from first to last, and its pathos is relieved by touches of true humour."—Illustrated London News.

"Mrs. Molesworth has long established a reputation as one of the freshest and most graceful of contemporaneous writers of light fiction; but in 'Miss Bouverie' she has surpassed herself, and it is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the prettiest stories which as appeared for years."—Morning Post.

"Everyone knows Mrs. Molesworth by her exquisite Christmas stories for children, and can guess that any novel she writes is interesting, without sensationalism. The refinement which pervades all Mrs. Molesworth's stories comes evidently from a pure, spiritual nature, which unconsciously raises the reader's tone of thought, without any approach to didactic writing."—Spectator.

"The accomplished author of 'Two English Girls' has produced another novel of considerable merit. The story is one of a rural district in England, into which there introduces himself one day a foot-sore, hungry, sick tramp, who turns out to be a young man of education and consideration, whose career in the past is strange, and whose career in the future the author has depicted as stranger still. The writer is successful chiefly in the excellent life-like pictures which she presents of Rose Purley, the young lady who manages the farm, and of the village doctor, Gabriel Armstrong. The book is one which may be read with pleasure."—Scotsman.

"It is the writing of one who is determined, by dint of conscientious and painstaking work; to win success from that portion of the public that does not look for the brilliant achievements of genius, but can recognise meritorious work. The tale is an agreeable one, and the character of Mr. Beresford is admirably drawn, showing considerable insight and understanding. The author has a steady mastery over the story she wishes to tell, and she tells it clearly and eloquently, without hesitation and without prolixity. The book has this merit—the first merit of a novel—that the reader is interested in the people rather than the plot, and that he watches the development of character rather than that of event."—Literary World.

"Sir Anthony introduces two mysterious children, Henry and Elfrida, into his house, and compels his wife, whom he dislikes, to protect and virtually adopt them. In due course he tells these children, in his own vigorous Anglo-Saxon, 'You two are my eldest son and daughter, lawfully begotten of my wife, once Mary Derrick, and known afterwards as Mary Paston. You will be Sir Henry Kesterton when I die, and Elfrida is heiress to her grandmother's money and jewels.' Lady Kesterton overheard this terrible statement. He repeats it in a still more offensive form. Thereupon she gives him an overdose of chloral and fights desperately, and with temporary success, for what she regards as the rights of her children, but especially of her son Gerard. Failure overtakes her, and Elfrida, though not poor Henry, comes by her own. The plot is good and thoroughly sustained from first to last."—Academy.

"'Thunderbolt' is an Australian rival of Claude Duval and Mr. Macdonald records his daring feats with unflagging verve. Never was police officer more defied nor bewildered than the Major Devereux, of brilliant Indian reputation, who, in the Australian bush, finds that to catch a robber of Thunderbolt's temperament and ability requires local knowledge as well as other gifts undreamt-of by the Hussar officer. Thunderbolt goes to races under the Major's nose, dances in the houses of his friends, robs Her Majesty's mails and diverse banks, but conducts himself with (on occasion) the chivalrous courtesy that characterised his prototype. His tragical end is told with spirit, while the book has excellent descriptions of Australian life, both in town and country."—Morning Post.

"This is one of the most delightful novels we have read for a long time. 'Bab' Fenwick is an 'out of doors' kind of girl, full of spirit, wit, go, and sin, both original and acquired. Her lover, Jack, is all that a hero should be, and great and magnanimous as he is, finds some difficulty in forgiving the insouciante mistress all her little sins of omission and commission. When she finally shoots him in the leg—by accident—the real tragedy of the story begins. The whole is admirable, if a little long."—Black and White.

"M. E. Le Clerc devotes herself to historic fiction, and her success is sufficient to justify her in the occasional production of stories like 'Mistress Beatrice Cope' and 'Robert Carroll.' Beatrice Cope was a Jacobite's daughter, so far as memory serves, and Robert Carroll was the son of a Jacobite baronet, who played and lost his stake at Preston, fighting for the Old Pretender. Of course the hero loved a maiden whose father was a loyal servant of King George, and, almost equally of course, one of this maiden's brothers was a Jacobite. A second brother, by the way, appears as a lad of sixteen in the spring of 1714, and as a wounded colonel of cavalry on the morrow of the fight at Preston, less than two years later—rapid promotion even for those days, though certainly not impossible. The author has taken pains to be accurate in her references to the events of the time, and her blend of fact and fiction is romantic enough."—AthenÆum.

"It is a comfort to turn from the slipshod English and the tiresome slang of many modern novels to the easy and cultured style of 'The Husband of One Wife,' and we have been thoroughly interested in the story, as well as pleased with the manner in which it is told. As for Mrs. Goldenour, afterwards Mrs. Garfoyle, afterwards Mrs. Pengelley, she is certainly one of the most attractive as well as one of the most provoking of heroines, and Mrs. Venn has succeeded admirably in describing her under both aspects. The scene of the dinner-party, and the description of the bishop's horror at its magnificence is very clover. We are very glad to meet several old friends again, especially Mrs. Gruter, who is severe and amusing as ever. Altogether we feel that Mrs. Venn's novels are books to which we can confidently look forward with pleasure."—Guardian.

"The story will be followed with unfaltering interest. Nor is anything short of unmixed praise due to several of the episodes and separate incidents of which it is composed. The principal characters—Delmar, Zoe's cousin and lover—stand out in decided and life-like relief. In the sketches of scenery, especially those of the coast of Brittany and the aspect of its sea, both in calm and storm. Miss Betham-Edwards need not fear comparison with the best masters of the art."—Spectator.

"The book is one that maybe read with pleasure; it is fluently, flowingly, carefully written; and It contains very pleasant sketches of character."—Academy.

"Miss Whitby essays a lighter vein than usual in her collection of stories, entitled 'A Matter of Skill.' But she writes with the same excellence and freedom, and all these miniature love-stories will be cordially welcomed. Lovely woman appears in these pages in a variety of moods, humorous and pathetic, and occasionally she seems not a little 'uncertain, coy, and hard to please.' The title story, showing how a stately girl is captured, after a good deal of trouble, by a short and common-place young man, is very amusing; and there are other sketches in which it is interesting to follow the wiles of Mother Eve ere she has come to years of discretion."—Academy.

"The new and cheaper edition of this interesting work will doubtless meet with great success. John Halifax, the hero of this most beautiful story, is no ordinary hero, and this his history is no ordinary book. It is a full-length portrait of a true gentleman, one of nature's own nobility. It is also the history of a home, and a thoroughly English one. The work abounds in incident, and many of the scenes are full of graphic power and true pathos. It is a book that few will read without becoming wiser and better."—Scotsman.

"We are always glad to welcome this author. She writes from her own convictions, and she has the power not only to conceive clearly what it is that she wishes to say, but to express it in language effective and vigorous. In 'A Life for a Life' she Is fortunate in a good subject, and she has produced a work of strong effect The reader, having read the book through for the story, will be apt (if he be of our persuasion) to return and read again many pages and passages with greater pleasure than on a first perusal. The whole book is replete with a graceful, tender delicacy; and, in addition to its other merits, it is written in good careful English."—AthenÆum.

"A more charming story, to our taste, has rarely been written. Within the compass of a single volume the writer has hit off a circle of varied characters, all true to nature—some true to the highest nature—and she has entangled them in a story which keeps us in suspense till the knot is happily and gracefully resolved; while, at the same time, a pathetic interest is sustained by an art of which it would be difficult to analyse the secret. It is a choice gift to be able thus to render human nature so truly, to penetrate its depths with such a searching sagacity, and to illuminate them with a radiance so eminently the writer's own."—The Times.

"Few men and no women will read 'A Noble Life' without feeling themselves the better for the effort."—Spectator.

"A beautifully written and touching tale. It is a noble book."—Morning Post.

"'A Noble Life' is remarkable for the high types of character it presents, and the skill with which they are made to work out a story of powerful and pathetic interest."—Daily News.

"'The Woman's Kingdom' sustains the author's reputation as a writer of the purest and noblest kind of domestic stories."—AthenÆum.

"'The Woman's Kingdom' is remarkable for its romantic interest. The characters are masterpieces. Edna is worthy of the hand that drew John Halifax."—Morning Post.

"A very good novel, showing a tender sympathy with human nature, and permeated: by a pure and noble spirit."—Examiner.

"A most charming story."—Standard.

"We earnestly recommend this novel. It is a special and worthy specimen of the author's remarkable powers. The reader's attention never for a moment flags."—Post.

"A good, wholesome book, as pleasant to read as it is instructive."—AthenÆum.

"This book is written with the same true-hearted earnestness as 'John Halifax.' The spirit of the whole work is excellent."—Examiner.

"A charming tale charmingly told."—Standard.

"'Young Mrs. Jardine' is a pretty story, written in pure English."—The Times.

"There is much good feeling in this book. It is pleasant and wholesome."—AthenÆum.

"A book that all should read. Whilst it is quite the equal of any of its predecessors in elevation of thought or style, it is perhaps their superior in interest of plot and dramatic intensity. The characters are admirably delineated, and the dialogue is natural and clear."—Morning Post.

"A powerful novel of social and domestic life. One of the most successful efforts of a successful novelist."—Daily News.

"A very pleasant, healthy story, well and artistically told. The book is sure of a wide circle of readers. The character of Hannah is one of rare beauty."—Standard.

"'Nothing New' displays all those superior merits which have made 'John Halifax' one of the most popular novels of the day."—Morning Post.

"The reader will find these narratives calculated to remind him of that truth and energy of human portraiture, that spell over human affections and emotions, which have stamped this author as one of the first novelists of our day."—John Bull.

"'In Time to Come,' by Miss Eleanor Holmes, merits a good place among one-volume novels. The theme is interesting, the characters who work it out have been observantly studied and carefully drawn, and the sequel justifies what at the first blush seems rather a vague title."—Dundee Advertiser.

"The author of 'John Halifax' has written many fascinating stories, but we can call to mind nothing from her pen that has a more enduring charm than the graceful sketches in this work. Such a character as Jessie stands out from a crowd of heroines as the type of all that is truly noble, pure, and womanly."—United Service Magazine.

"'Dalefolk' tells of the effect produced on a simple and impressible people by a terrific curse, pronounced by a half-insane clergyman on a parishioner whom he believes to have written an anonymous letter of complaint to the Bishop of the diocese The cloud of mingled awe and repulsion that rests on the family for two generations is forcibly described. But this is only a background for a series of capital sketches of life as it was among the West Cumberland dalesmen at a period—this is the only note of time—when the diocese was ruled from Chester instead of, as now, from Carlisle. The author evidently writes from full acquaintance with her subject, and brings out in vivid colours the quaint, old festivities, the dancings, and wrestlings, and card-playings, the great gatherings for shearings and 'salvings,' all of them excuses for genial and unstinted hospitalities, and renewals of kind, neighbourly feeling and good-fellowship, which were so needed among the loneliness and isolation which were of necessity the habitual lot of the occupiers of the great sheep farms. She is equally happy in entering into the ways of thought and feeling which must have been characteristic of the primitive and simple folk to whom the reader is introduced in her pleasant pages."—Guardian.

"These studies are truthful and vivid pictures of life, often earnest, always full of right feeling, and occasionally lightened by touches of quiet genial humour. The volume is remarkable for thought, sound sense, shrewd observation, and kind and sympathetic feeling for all things good and beautiful."—Morning Post.

"A book of sound counsel It is one of the most sensible works of its kind, well written, true-hearted, and altogether practical. Whoever wishes to give advice to a young lady may thank the author for means of doing so."—Examiner.

"These thoughts are worthy of the earnest and enlightened mind, the all-embracing charity and well-earned reputation of the author of 'John Halifax.'"—Standard.

"This excellent book is characterised by good sense, good taste, and feeling, and is written in an earnest, philanthropic, as well as practical spirit."—Morning Post.

"We have no hesitation in declaring that 'The Awakening of Mary Fenwick' is the best novel of its kind that we have seen for some years. It is apparently a first effort, and, as such, is really remarkable. The story is extremely simple. Mary Mauser marries her husband for external, and perhaps rather inadequate, reasons, and then discovers that he married her because she was an heiress. She feels the indignity acutely, and does not scruple to tell him her opinion—her very candid opinion—of his behaviour. That is the effect of the first few chapters, and the rest of Miss Whitby's book is devoted to relating how this divided couple hated, quarrelled, and finally fell in love with one another. Mary Fenwick and her husband live and move and make us believe in them in a way which few but the great masters of fiction have been able to compass."—AthenÆum.

"The governess makes a re-entry into fiction under the auspices of Beatrice Whitby in 'One Reason Why.' Readers generally, however, will take a great deal more interest, for once, in the children than in their instructress. 'Bay' and 'Ellie' are charmingly natural additions to the children of novel-land; so much so, that there is a period when one dreads a death-bed scene for one of them—a fear which is happily unfulfilled."—Graphic.

"The book is a thoroughly good one. The theme is fairly familiar—the rebellion of a spirited girl against a match which has been arranged for her without her knowledge or consent; her resentment at being treated, not as a woman with a heart and will, but as 'part of the property;' and her final discovery, which is led up to with real dramatic skill, that the thing against which her whole nature had risen in revolt has become the one desire of her heart. The author's greatest triumph is the portrait of Mrs. Lindsay, who, with the knowledge of the terrible skeleton in the cupboard of her apparently happy home, wears so bravely the mask of light gaiety as to deceive everybody but the one man who knows her secret."—Spectator.

"A description of a home stripped by the cold wind of poverty of all its comforts, but which remains home still. The careless optimism of the head of the family would be incredible, if we did not know how men exist full of responsibilities yet free from solicitudes, and who tread with a jaunty step the very verge of ruin; his inconsolable widow would be equally improbable, if we did not meet every day with women who devote themselves to such idols of clay. There is interest in it from first to last, and its pathos is relieved by touches of true humour."—Illustrated London News.

"This is one of the most delightful novels we have read for a long time. 'Bab' Fenwick is an 'out of doors' kind of girl, full of spirit, wit, go, and sin, both original and acquired. Her lover, Jack, is all that a hero should be, and great and magnanimous as he is, finds some difficulty in forgiving the insouciante mistress all her little sins of omission and commission. When she finally shoots him in the leg—by accident—the real tragedy of the story begins. The whole is admirable."—Black and White.

"Lovely woman appears in these pages in a variety of moods, humorous and pathetic, and occasionally she seems not a little 'uncertain, coy, and hard to please.' The title story showing how a stately girl is captured, after a good deal of trouble, by a short and common-place young man, is very amusing; and there are other sketches in which it is interesting to follow the wiles of Mother Eve ere she has come to years of discretion."—Academy.

"The new and cheaper edition of this interesting work will doubtless meet with great success. John Halifax, the hero of this most beautiful story, is no ordinary hero, and this his history is no ordinary book. It is a full-length portrait of a true gentleman, one of nature's own nobility. It is also the history of a home, and a thoroughly English one. The work abounds in incident, and is full of graphic power and true pathos. It is a book that few will read without becoming wiser and better."—Scotsman.

"We are always glad to welcome this author. She writes from her own convictions, and she has the power not only to conceive clearly what it is that she wishes to say but to express it in language effective and vigorous. In 'A Life for a Life' she is fortunate in a good subject, and she has produced a work of strong effect. The reader, having read the book through for the story, will be apt (if he be of our persuasion) to return and read again many pages and passages with greater pleasure than on a first perusal. The whole book is replete with a graceful, tender delicacy; and in addition to the other merits, it is written in good careful English."—AthenÆum.

"A more charming story, to our taste, has rarely been written. Within the compass of a single volume the writer has hit off a circle of varied characters, all true to nature—some true to the highest nature—and she has entangled them in a story which keeps us in suspense till the knot is happily and gracefully resolved; while, at the same time, a pathetic interest is sustained by an art of which it would be difficult to analyse the secret It is a choice gift to be able thus to render human nature so truly, to penetrate its depths with such a searching sagacity, and to illuminate them with a radiance so eminently the writer's own."—The Times.

"This is one of those pleasant tales in which the author of 'John Halifax' speaks out of a generous heart the purest truths of life."—Examiner.

"Few men, and no women, will read 'A Noble Life' without finding themselves the better."—Spectator.

"A story of powerful and pathetic interest."—Daily News.

"'The Woman's Kingdom' sustains the author's reputation as a writer of the purest and noblest kind of domestic stories. The novelist's lesson is given with admirable force and sweetness."—AthenÆum.

"'The Woman's Kingdom' is remarkable for its romantic interest. The characters are masterpieces Edna is worthy of the hand that drew John Halifax."—Post.

"A very good novel, showing a tender sympathy with human nature, and permeated by a pure and noble spirit."—Examiner.

"A most charming story."—Standard.

"We earnestly recommend this novel It is a special and worthy specimen of the author's remarkable powers. The reader's attention never for a moment flags."—Post.

"A good, wholesome book, as pleasant to read as it is instructive."—AthenÆum.

"This book is written with the same true-hearted earnestness as 'John Halifax.' The spirit of the whole work is excellent."—Examiner.

"A charming tale charmingly told."—Standard.