By 1889, Rudyard Kipling was considered as one of the leading writers of his day. The publication of "Mrs. Bathurst" (1904) was an important event in his career. Favorable critical response to the story reinforced his reputation as a writer of the highest order, a designation that was acknowledged by the European intellectual community with the Nobel Prize in 1907. Numerous critics deem "Mrs. Bathurst" as one of the finest examples of Kipling's work as a short-story writer. For example, Walter Allen selected the story as an example of the very best literature, and placed Kipling near the top of the pantheon of short-story writers in English. T. S. Eliot praised Kipling's "pagan vision" in the introduction to a volume of Kipling's poetry, entitled the Choice of Kipling's Verse.

Not all of the reaction was favorable, however. Angus Wilson and Kingsley Amis regarded "Mrs. Bathurst" as pretentious. In more...