| + + | Dial. 38: 389. Je. 1, ‘05. 310w. |
“The first and most obvious complaint is against the strange and confusing method with which Mrs. Ward uses the motive of her story.” Herbert W. Horwill.
| + + — | Forum. 37: 100. Jl. ‘05. 1470w. |
“It must be admitted that ‘The marriage of William Ashe,’ which is her latest, is likewise her strongest book. As usual in Mrs. Ward’s stories, as the end approaches, the interest proportionally deepens. The outcome is unpredictable. Never was the advantage of Mrs. Ward’s method of composition more fully demonstrated than in ‘The marriage of William Ashe.’ The crisis is balanced with absolute nicety: the weight of a hair will turn the scales. The minor characters of Mrs. Ward’s story are drawn with subtlety and power. All in all, ‘The marriage of William Ashe’ is to be regarded as an achievement of consummate art.” C. H. Gaines.
| + + + | Harper’s Weekly. 49: 392. Mr. 18, ‘05. 2060w. |
“It is in the adequate presentation and interpretation of Lady Kitty that the author has achieved probably her greatest success as a literary artist.”
| + + | Ind. 58: 668. Mr. 23, ‘05. 1290w. |
[*] “Is the most notable book of the year, and will perhaps be the only one to survive.”
| + + | Ind. 59: 1152. N. 16, ‘05. 160w. | |
| + — | Nation. 80: 336. Ap. 27, ‘05. 1710w. |
“Like a rich personality ‘The marriage of William Ashe’ yields itself more and more, as one knows it better. It reveals new depth and beauty with each reading; one appreciates how superbly the author has triumphed over unusual difficulties of situation and of character; and with what noble conclusions she has charged a story which might easily have sunk into a moral morass. Its place is with the books that do not die. Its author stands among the few living writers of fiction to whom the Immortals have passed the torch.” M. Gordon Pryor Rice.