7–30436.
A character study of three distinct types. A mother whose peace of mind was constantly assailed by a selfish husband exploiting all the proprieties of life decides to live apart from him. She goes abroad and makes a cozy drawingroom the center of a warmth which she radiates after the fashion of her own serenity, sincerity and dignity. The daughter, devoted to the father, furnishes the second type. At his death the mother returns to find her daughter an arrogant, selfish, heartless girl unable to detect values. The third type is honest Jack Pennington whose integrity but reveals more convincingly the girl’s shallowness and the mother’s patient unselfishness.
“The workmanship is excellent and to those readers who enjoy a ruthless dissection, skilfully done, the book will be worth while. Of plot there is scarcely anything.”
| + − | A. L. A. Bkl. 3: 204. N. ’07. |
“The best of many good qualities is the spirit in which it is written. A finished piece of true comedy.”
| + + | Lond. Times. 6: 341. N. 8, ’07. 550w. |
“The plain citizen, the clamorer for a simple story, will not take kindly to ‘A fountain sealed.’ On the other hand, the reader who is attracted by the subtle in style and substance, who likes a maximum of soul-searching with a minimum of ‘scene,’ will find it a mine of interest, and will have the further satisfaction of perceiving that a novel may deal with the subtleties, yet be unquestionably clean.”
| + − | Nation. 85: 446. N. 14, ’07. 580w. | |
| N. Y. Times. 12: 654. O. 19, ’07. 50w. |
“It is such a moving, vivid, illuminating picture of the kind of tragedy that everywhere dignifies human life, that it can but make a wide appeal.”