[Bennett was an Edwardian novelist who is credited with bringing techniques of European Naturalism to the English novel. He is best known as the author of The Old Wives' Tale (1908) and the Clayhanger trilogy (1910-1916), realistic novels depicting life in an English manufacturing town. In the following excerpt, originally published in New Age in 1908, he offers a negative appraisal of Ward's works, particularly criticizing the heroines of her novels.]

That a considerable social importance … attaches to the publication of a novel by Mrs. Humphry Ward may be judged from the fact that the Manchester Guardian specially reviewed the book on its leader page. This strange phenomenon deserves to be studied, because the Manchester Guardian's reviewing easily surpasses that of any other daily paper, except, possibly, the Times in its Literary Supplement. The Guardian relies on mere, sheer intellectual power, and as a rule it does not respect persons...