Madeline had been born beyond the pale of respectable society at Port Said in Egypt; had grown up in ignorance of conventional morality and lived in open defiance of it until she was twenty-three. But there had been growing pains and a crisis came when she must either die or be reborn. Father Gregory—retired from ecclesiastical honors in England to a hermitage in the desert—and his nephew, Robin Beechcroft, the young explorer, help her to a rebirth. The former points her to her supreme need, Christ, the latter loves and makes her his wife. The story traces Madeline’s unfoldment as a woman, a thinker and a seer. She and Robin pass through trials, even tragedies, but it is Madeline’s fineness and clear-sightedness that at last saves the day for them both.
“Under its appearance of superficiality there is a quite unusual and remarkable understanding of the character of Madeline.” K. M.
+ − Ath p702 My 28 ’20 580w
“Mr Weigall’s novel grows weaker with the turning of pages, and there is no marvelous rising above climax after climax. Madeline, vivid at first, becomes more and more pallid as the tale progresses.”
+ − Boston Transcript p12 D 8 ’20 310w
“It is impossible to withhold from Mr Weigall a tribute of admiration for the amazing fluency and fertility of imagination which enable him to make a long story out of very scant material. Whether the story was worth making is another question.”
+ − N Y Evening Post p22 O 23 ’20 250w
“The author’s vivid pictures of Egyptian life are explained by the fact that he has lived in Egypt a great deal, and has the faculty of presenting pleasingly and convincingly that which he sees. On the whole, he has presented to the world a very readable, as well as clever, book.”
+ N Y Times p22 N 21 ’20 220w