"Kind Are Her Answers" is a slighter and shallower book than "Promise of Love"; more entertaining, perhaps, but less moving. Mary Renault remains an exceedingly talented and promising novelist, but she has not, since her first book, progressed in any way….
[There] is room for shrewd comedy in "Kind Are Her Answers," plus a rueful and gentle irony. Christie, though maddening, is a completely charming character. One sees why Kit can never escape from her. Again, the incidentals of the story are touched off with great effectiveness…. "Kind Are Her Answers" is, in short, a clever and diverting story as well as one which knows what it is talking about when it discusses the course and fluctuation of passion. Only it is not quite what one had expected of Miss Renault. There is no depth to it, no real feeling. Something is missing which "Promise of Love" had. "Kind Are Her Answers" is eminently readable, but it smacks a little too much of the run-of-the-mine English novel.
Edith H. Walton, "A Luckless Love," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1940 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), June 9, 1940, p. 7.
This is a free excerpt of 195 words. There are 403 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Renault, Mary 1905–: Critical Essay by Edith H. Walton Access Pass.
