Poor
Mrs. Humphry Ward. By the time she
published this
novel, a
sequel to
Robert Elsmere,
fashions in
religious controversy had changed.
Her views on Christianity, considered so daring by the Victorians, seemed quaint and conservative to Edwardian readers. Moreover, her style suffered as she grew older; she was more inclined to put theological harrangues in the mouth of the title character, and more willing to tell rather than show the reader personalities, conversations, and situations.