WHAT THE CRITICS SAY
"Mrs. Stetson's polemical poetry has a force and vigour of its own, which may perhaps serve to drive home the arguments lucidly stated in 'Women and Economics.' She differs from other advocates of women's rights, chiefly in her estimate of women as they are."—Athenæum.
"There have been heard now and again whispers of feminine discontent, hints that the relations of the sexes are on a not entirely satisfactory footing, and suggestions that marriage from a woman's point of view, comes near being a failure.... In her book Mrs. Stetson goes to the very root of the matter, and turns hints, as it were, into italics."—World.
"The charm of the book lies in its evident sincerity, its eloquent appeals to the higher side of human nature, and its wholesale optimism. These qualities will make the book a power for good among those who have hitherto given little thought to the position of women in society, and the fearless exposure of many social evils will stimulate such readers to serious thought."—Fabian News.
"When we pass to the book of the lady whose inspiration is derived from the expansive temperament of the great Republic of the West ... we recognise at once how much more hopeful one can be when one is not a citizen of a played-out European nation.... Mrs. Stetson's intention is to show that what she calls the 'excessive sex development' of women is responsible for some of the worst evils under which we suffer.... With a great deal of what she says on this matter it is impossible not to agree."—Saturday Review.
"'Women and Economics' is a book to be read and a book to be thought about, whether you may agree with it or not. If all the literature of the feminist movement had been half so cogent, so accurately based on fact, so sincere, and withal so pure and modest as this, the feminist movement of to-day would have been a great deal farther advanced than it is."—Hearth and Home.
"Here is a book that, whether we look on its teaching as wholesome or dangerous, we are bound to acknowledge to be of exceptional ability. It is the book of a woman of a clear and of a trained intellect, and of great courage. As such it demands attention and very likely will get it—of the hostile kind—from many quarters."—Bookman.
"To-day it will meet with opposition and dispute—more or less great as we appreciate more or less truly the conditions of human progress. Ten years hence—perhaps five years hence—it will be accepted eagerly. Twenty years hence it will be a mere milestone of history. These are the stages through which books must pass which contain true analyses of transient societies. But the literary historian who somewhere towards the latter half of the twentieth century looks up Mrs. Stetson's volume, will find amid phrases grown old-fashioned, and arguments long since admitted, a sparkle of wit, a lucidity of statement and an admirable spirit of justice and allowance, likely even in those improved days to be still rare among controversialists."—Academy.
"There is one thing at all events that may be predicated of this book. It is admirably devised for the purpose of making a dust.... There are some who will read Mrs. Stetson's book with anger or will turn from it with repulsion. I cannot put myself in their place. To me it seems that the courageous and clear-headed American woman speaks as a rule the language of reason and sense. I read her with pleasure and gratitude.... It is an honest and stimulating book. Perfect in temper, noble in intention, and therefore it is to be cordially welcomed."—Sunday Sun.
"Mrs. Stetson is such a specimen of the modern woman as it does one good to encounter. She is strong and clear; as free from noise as from flippancy.... 'Women and Economics' is a book to read."—Echo.