SOURCE: "More Magic from John Fowles," in The New York Times Review of Books, November 4, 1974, p. 35.

In the following assessment of The Ebony Tower, Lehmann-Haupt focuses on connections between the novella and stories in the collection, concluding that the work as a whole is "a thoroughly pleasing entertainment and a thoroughly mystifying conundrum."

"The working title of this collection of stories was Variations"—John Fowles interjects in "A Personal Note" about one-third of the way through his new book, The Ebony Tower—"by which I meant to suggest variations both on certain themes in previous books of mine and in methods of narrative presentation. . . ." But two considerations seemed to miltate against using Variations as a title, Mr. Fowles goes on to explain: first, his own fear that readers would "feel themselves at a disadvantage because they are unfamiliar with my work . . ." and, second, the fear of "the first...