“No reader will set ‘The captives’ down without the figure of Maggie Cardinal having been permanently limned upon his memory. The portrait is consistent throughout. The pictures of the band of religious fanatics, some of them charlatans, and of their sincere leader are particularly forceful. Mr Walpole’s method is that of the realist, but he has scarcely employed it to the best of its possibilities.”
+ − N Y Times p18 N 7 ’20 1000w
“In distinction of literary workmanship Mr Walpole is at his best in this story.” R. D. Townsend
+ Outlook 127:31 Ja 5 ’21 330w
“While the direct subject of the volume concerns the religious teachings of one narrow sect in England, which he designates as the Kingscote Brethren, the application of his theme is as wide as the two continents.” Calvin Winter
+ Pub W 98:1890 D 18 ’20 350w
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
Review 3:384 O 27 ’20 200w
“The book is full of perturbed and uneasy striving, and is elemental both in its energy and the simplicity of its theme.”
+ Spec 125:473 O 9 ’20 640w