OR, THE HANGING GARDENS:
MORALIZING ESSAYS.
BY
VERNON LEE.
Times.—"There are many charming flowers in it … the swift to-and-fro of her vivid, capricious mind carries the reader hither and thither at her will, and she has such wise, suggestive things to say…. Whenever and wherever she speaks of Italy, the sun shines in this garden of hers, the south wind stirs among the roses."
Standard.—"There are imagination and fancy in the volume, a wise and independent outlook on society, an undercurrent of genial humour, and, what is perhaps still more rare, an invitation to think."
Westminster Gazette.—"They are of the family of Lamb, Hunt, and Hazlitt, just as those derive from the Augustans, Addison, and Steele…. Vernon Lee possesses the best gifts of the essayists—the engaging turn, the graceful touch, the subtle allusiveness."
Outlook.—"Vernon Lee possesses a mind richly imbued with the lore of the finest literature, and distinguished by just that touch of paradox, of the unexpected, which is the other indispensable requisite of the true essayist. Also her philosophy is never aggressively didactic, but always refreshing and helpful."
Speaker.—"This volume of essays gives us the work of Vernon Lee in her most eager and abundant mood…. Cordial pages that convey so much sincerity of heart, so much warmth, so much courage and love of life."
Pilot.—"All that Vernon Lee has written is strong and good … and her shrewd observation has enabled her to see below the surface of life."