_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." MARTIN SECKER NUMBER FIVE JOHN STREET ADELPHI SOME PRESS OPINIONS OF KENSINGTON RHYMES _By_ COMPTON MACKENZIE _SATURDAY REVIEW:_ "These are particularly jolly rhymes, that any really good sort of a chap, say a fellow of about ten, would like. Mr. J. R. Monsell's pictures are exceptionally jolly too.... If we may judge by ourselves, not only the children, but the grown-ups of the family will be enchanted by this quite delightful and really first-rate book." _DAILY MAIL:_ "Among the picture-books of the season, pride of place must go to Mr. Compton Mackenzie's 'Kensington Rhymes.' They are full of quiet humour and delicate insight into the child-mind." _OBSERVER:_ "Far the best rhymes of the year are 'Kensington Rhymes,' by Compton Mackenzie, almost the best things of the kind since the 'Child's Garden of Verse.'" _ATHENAEUM:_ "Will please children of all ages and also contains much that will not be read without a sympathetic smile by grown-ups possessed of a sense of humour."