“Mr. Nevinson’s keenness and clearness of observation of his characters comes of his deep sympathy with them. Through the mirk and mire, the folly, the ignorance, and the superstition, he sees the good human stuff. Hence his humour has always in it something of pathos, and his pathos is just lightened by a touch of humour. He plumbs profound depths. He not infrequently brings a lump to the throat.”
Athenæum.
“In a series of a dozen epistles, more or less connected, he has set forth, with a vividness which one would suppose can only be the result of careful personal study, the grim humour and the grimmer pathos of the lives that are lived about Cradley, Dudley, and Walsall. It is to the author’s credit that in depicting these lives he has been able, while in no way ignoring the lawless animal traits natural to a swarming and neglected population, to steer almost wholly clear of the Zolaesque crudities in which some writers whom one could name would probably have revelled. Take it all in all, this is the strongest book of short stories which we have come across for some time.... One feels that it would have taken a good many critics to write one of these stories.”
Scotsman.
“The atmosphere of the book is as hard and grimy as a coal-mine itself; but the charm lies in this, and it is true to the nature of its subject. Its pathos—and there is plenty of it—is never forced or mawkish; and the stories never fail to be impressive. The book will enhance the reputation its author gained by his ‘Neighbours of Ours,’ and will no doubt be widely read.”
Glasgow Herald.
“Mr. Nevinson has succeeded in exacting the marrow from his subject in a fashion that should place him at once high amongst our contemporary writers of fiction. His vein of romance, his slow but delicate humour, and his strong humanity of touch remind us more of Miss Mary Wilkins than of any other living writer that we can call to mind. His book is one to read and re-read, and then to lay aside for future enjoyment.”
Crown 8vo, cloth, 4s. 6d. net.