'This volume is to be welcomed as a significant addition to this developing field of study. Kate Macdonald has produced a careful and well-grounded account of the work of three important writers in the middlebrow tradition. The book offers an original and refreshingly accessible analysis of these authors, examining their status as major figures in popular fiction, but also providing a nuanced and sensitive critique of their novels within the socio-cultural context of their times. Students of twentieth-century popular culture will find Dr Macdonald an astute and readable critic in this authoritative guide to the best-loved fiction of the time.' - Rob Spence, Edge Hill University, UK