The work is not describable, it is not
to be indicated by comparison; the very touch of occasional caricature
in the election scenes, and in the 'brigand' of the story, O'Ruark,
which throws out the sheer clear actuality of the people, the places,
the 'ways'; the extraordinary humour of the talk; the jarring of small
interests and petty ambitions in the town that is all the world to its
inhabitants; the swift stroke of fate and sudden investment of the scene
with tragic interest--are Mr. Downey's own. Mick Moloney's last 'few
words with the master' is an incident worthy to be placed beside the
famous death scene in the mountain-pass in 'Tom Burke.'" THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. "Vivid and convincing sketches of Irish provincial life abound in 'The
Merchant of Killogue.'... The story is admirably worked up to a
surprising and startling _dénouement_." WESTMINSTER GAZETTE. "The only fault we have to find with 'The Merchant of Killogue' is that
it is too conscientious.... In depicting his characters he shows rare
skill and knowledge as well as a very considerable gift of humour. They
are all vivid, distinct, and lifelike.... The workmanship is of quite
unusual merit." DAILY CHRONICLE. "Mr. Downey's Celts are human beings, motived by the ordinary motives,
and talking like rational men and women. His central figure, John
O'Reilly, is an artistic creation." LITERARY WORLD. "Natural, strong in local characterisation and colouring, with many
touches of quaint humour peculiarly Irish and racy, and bright and
readable from cover to cover." SATURDAY REVIEW. "There is no questioning the ability of Mr. Edmund Downey's Munster
tale. It is long since a writer has introduced us to a set of characters
so fresh, so unlike the usual creations of the novelist." VANITY FAIR. "Every character in the book is put down in words so subtle and strong
that for yourself you know the people. There is nothing of the new woman
in it, and not a line concerning the analyses of soul and body. It is
just a picture of Irish life which might have been written in shorthand
as it happened, and written out afterwards in longhand, so clear and
sharp and vital is it. It is an exciting story, with a thrilling winding
up." ST. JAMES'S GAZETTE. "When we say that Mr. Downey reminds us not a little of his great
precursor, Lever, we are paying him no idle compliment." GUARDIAN. "One of the best descriptions of Irish life that we have read since
Lever." SPECTATOR. "A very bright and vivacious book.... The merchant is a very carefully
painted portrait, and he is really made to live." THE SUN. "Before you are half-way through the first chapter of this entertaining
book you realize that you are here face to face with Ireland drawn from
the life, that this is fiction not of stale convention but of first-hand
observation, and that the story demands more than ordinary attention." ATHENÆUM. "It is pleasant for a reviewer to be able to congratulate him on the
good account to which he has now turned his extensive acquaintance with
Irish provincial life." ST. PAUL'S. "The humour is neither farcical nor conventional, it is the humour of
situation and character.... The dialogue is animated, easy, and natural
throughout." LLOYDS'. "The rich racy humour of Irish life bubbles up in many fantastic forms
and shapes throughout Mr. Downey's novel." MORNING POST. "Excellent portraits abound in this tale of Munster." STANDARD. "The plot acts mainly as a peg on which the author hangs his sketches of
Irish character, and these are excellently done. The merchant himself
... is a remarkable study.... O'Ruark is, in his way, quite a creation,
and his perennial flow of Irish wit is one of the pleasantest things in
the three volumes." TRUTH. "The characters and the scenes are excellently drawn." LIVERPOOL MERCURY. "A story that holds the attention of the reader down to the last page." FREEMAN'S JOURNAL. "The book has all the interest of a story that we feel derives its life
from experience." IRISH WEEKLY INDEPENDENT. "'The Merchant of Killogue' is a book in which high spirits predominate. It is no mean compliment to say that two or three chapters read like
chapters of 'Charles O'Malley' or 'Harry Lorrequer.'" BOSTON (U.S.A.) LITERARY WORLD. "A remarkable novel of Irish life is 'The Merchant of Killogue.' I do
not know any novel which paints the life so realistically.... As a
portrait of the time and the people the book ought to live." +W. HEINEMANN+, PUBLISHER,
  BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, LONDON




G. W. APPLETON'S NOVELS. A TERRIBLE LEGACY:

A Tale of the South Downs. "One of the most amusing novels we have ever read. The author revels in
a good character, and so the book is filled with grotesque oddities, at
which we laugh consumedly.... A novelist who possesses the rare gift of
humour. We are grateful for an afternoon of hearty laughter. Could we
say as much of nine books out of ten?" --_World._

"One of the most amusing novels we have ever read. Mr. Appleton has done
for the South Downs what Mr. Blackmore has done for Exmoor."--_St. Stephen's Review._

"It is not in respect of this rare gift of humour that I alone value the
author. This story is a tale of the South Downs, and Mr. Appleton has
the power of depicting in words the changing aspects of nature with an
absolute fidelity to truth. Counties differ, as human faces differ, only
more so. Mr. Appleton has made the South Downs his own literary
property." --_Vanity Fair._

"The reader will not be long in discovering that the book is the work of
a good and clever writer of no mean dramatic powers--whether in point
of conception or of execution--with much drollery and quaintness at
command, and a well-developed faculty of dealing with the mysterious,
and other admirable gifts." --_Illustrated London News._

"Laughter-moving from first to last. Mr. Appleton has written nothing
better than this." --_Scotsman._

"The readers of this strange romance will be bound to confess that the
author has held them captive." --_Daily News._

"From first to last absorbs the attention of the reader." --_Morning
Post._

"The novel is a novel in the true sense of the word, and whoever reads
it must feel refreshed at finding he is perusing altogether a new style
of book." --_Observer._

"The novel is a piece of sound workmanship, and distinctly marked
off from the ordinary run. It is worthy of its author's high
reputation." --_Weekly Dispatch._

"He has created types that deserve to survive and acquire as much
popularity as has fallen to the share of some of those of our most
famous humorists." --_Echo._

"One of the most original works of fiction we have met with for a
long time, as different from the usual feeble imitations of 'Ouida'
and 'George Eliot' as a breezy common or a bright spring day is
from the faint, perfume-laden atmosphere of an aristocratic
drawing-room."