The following are a few reviews of Part I. and of Part II.
The Leamington Spa Courier and Warwickshire Standard of Jan. 31st, 1902, concluding a long review, writes:—“Lack of space prevents us giving one tithe of its fine passages. In the ‘Death of Robespierre’ we have a lurid scene from the Reign of Terror that might have come from the pen of a Macaulay or an Aytoun. Another vivid historical picture is to be found in the story of Nigel Bruce, brother of the heroic King Robert Bruce. The death-song of Wallace has the true heroic ring. For romance, tragic yet delightful, we must turn to the ‘Lure Witch of the Alpine Glen’—a very fine poem. Pantheists will appreciate ‘A Child’s Search for God.’... Perhaps the most delightful and refreshing of the longer poems is an exquisitely told narrative of the Bavarian Highlands (‘The Wandering Waif and the King’).... And ‘I Wandered in the Market’ is a powerful plea for the dumb-stricken animal. For an original and pleasingly put advocacy of the sacred rights of bird and beast, ‘The Judgment of Airielle’ stands prominent.... This book is really a real, living, human production, and one which must ever be a joy to the man or woman whom the cares of this world have not robbed of all that is natural and unaffected.”
The Literary World of Dec. 30th remarks:—“‘Esterelle; or, The Lure Witch of the Alpine Glen,’ fills fifty-six pages, and contains passages that would do no discredit to poets of riper age and more mature mind. Pathetic and beautiful thoughts are expressed on every page.”
The Yorkshire Herald, Jan. 2nd, 1902, concludes an appreciative review:—“Her longer pieces are written with power and poetic fervour, and had the gifted authoress devoted her talents solely to the composition of poetry, the world of literature would have been all the richer for it.”
The Banff Journal, Feb. 1st, 1902, concluding a long review, says:—“The book possesses elements which will ensure for the name of the gifted authoress a permanent place among the poets of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.”
In a lengthy review The Dumfries Standard says:—“The whole volume is richer in the promise of poetic greatness than most great poets can show at so early an age; better than any extract the book itself will be, and for the nobility of its sentiment, for the vein of genuine poetry that is in it we have no word too cordial to recommend it.”—Dec. 4th, 1901.
“Ouida” writes:—“I am much moved by the pathos and beauty of many of your poems. Thanks from my heart for the ‘Prayer for the Dogs,’ and ‘Janet Lees’ is lovely. It should be reprinted everywhere, and ‘Averille.’”—Dec. 3rd, 1901.
Marie Corelli says:—“Your charming book of poems which I find very fascinating.”—Dec. 6th, 1901.
The Herald of the Golden Age for December says:—“This volume of poems contains many gems of thought. There is a freshness and versatility about the book that is quite unique. There can be no doubt that the author possesses the poetic gift in a most marked degree.”
The Northern Scot of Feb. 15th, 1902, says:—“The whole volume is rich in poetic greatness, and the yearnings of the child’s soul are beautifully and pathetically expressed in every page. It is a fascinating book.”