=THE PASSIONATE ELOPEMENT
_By_ COMPTON MACKENZIE
_TIMES:_
"We are grateful to him for wringing our hearts with the 'tears and
laughter of spent joys.'"
_SPECTATOR:_
"As an essay in literary _bravura_ the book is quite remarkable."
_COUNTRY LIFE:_
"In the kindliness, the humour and the gentleness of the treatment,
it comes as near to Thackeray as any man has come since Thackeray."
_DAILY CHRONICLE:_
"Thanks for a rare entertainment! And, if the writing of your story
pleased you as much as the reading of it has pleased us,
congratulations too."
_GLOBE:_
"A little tenderness, a fragrant aroma of melancholy laid away in
lavender, a hint of cynicism, an airy philosophy--and so a wholly
piquant, subtly aromatic dish, a rosy apple stuck with cloves."
_GLASGOW NEWS:_
"Fresh and faded, mocking yet passionate, compact of tinsel and
gold is this little tragedy of a winter season in view of the pump
room.... Through it all, the old tale has a dainty, fluttering,
unusual, and very real beauty.'"
_ENGLISH REVIEW:_
"All his characters are real and warm with life. 'The Passionate
Elopement' should be read slowly, and followed from the smiles and
extravagance of the opening chapters through many sounding and
poetical passages, to the thrilling end of the Love Chase. The
quiet irony of the close leaves one smiling, but with the wiser
smile of Horace Ripple who meditates on the colours of life."
_WESTMINSTER GAZETTE:_
"Mr. Mackenzie's book is a novel of genre, and with infinite care
and obvious love of detail has he set himself to paint a literary
picture in the manner of Hogarth. He is no imitator, he owes no
thanks to any predecessor in the fashioning of his book.... Mr.
Mackenzie recreates (the atmosphere) so admirably that it is no
exaggeration to say that, thanks to his brilliant scene-painting,
we shall gain an even more vivid appreciation of the work of his
great forerunners. Lightly and vividly does Mr. Mackenzie sketch in
his characters ... but they do not on that account lack
personality. Each of them is definitely and faithfully drawn, with
sensibility, sympathy, and humour."