Despite all this success, the novel received negative criticism almost as much as praise.
MacHale, Desmond. The Life and Work of George Boole: A Prelude to the Digital Age. Cork University Press.
312-13
Arnold Kettle
shed light on Joseph Conrad
's negative view, which sprang from a perception not out of line with...
Literary responses
Ethel Lilian Voynich
Some critics felt this novel was too sadistic, that the focus on the endurance of pain mars the writing.
MacHale, Desmond. The Life and Work of George Boole: A Prelude to the Digital Age. Cork University Press.
308
Kettle, Arnold. “E. L. Voynich: A Forgotten English Novelist”. Essays in Criticism, pp. 163-74.
173-174
Kettle
believed this to be the weakest of her three middle novels.
Kettle, Arnold. “E. L. Voynich: A Forgotten English Novelist”. Essays in Criticism, pp. 163-74.
173
Literary responses
Ethel Lilian Voynich
The very brief TLS notice praised the opening sections, in France and South America, but judged that the closing European section gives one the impression of a prolonged fit of hysteria.