“Those who care to read literature and not mere books will find what they want in this great novel.” Charlotte Harwood.
| + + + | Critic. 46: 378. Ap. ‘05. 830w. |
“A study that rivals ‘The scarlet letter’ in earnestness and psychological penetration.” Wm. M. Payne.
| + + | Dial. 38: 389. Je. 1, ‘05. 280w. |
“The psychology of a weak man and a strong woman is etched with the hand of a master.”
| + + + | Ind. 58: 559. Mr. 9, ‘05. 290w. |
[*] “‘The secret woman’ is a great story of the wrong kind.”
| + — | Ind. 59: 1153. N. 16, ‘05. 80w. |
“Mr. Phillpotts’s strongest story. A tragedy as grim and inexorable as any ever told by ancient Greek. He knows his Devon peasants, and it is with humility that we enter one or two protests against his portrayal. One may wish the theme less painful, our keen joy in the perfection of literary workmanship less marred by the continual constriction of heart to which the author compels us. It is not only its author’s masterpiece, but it is far in advance of anything he has yet written—and that is to give it higher praise than almost any other comparison with contemporary fiction could afford.”
| + + + | N. Y. Times. 10: 83. F. 11, ‘05. 700w. |