A fN ANOTHER ANONYMOUS novel was added to the burgeoning lists publishers' releases on October i5, i88o, there was scarcely occasion for sighting a literary landmark amid the welter so many its kind. Nor can claim, looking back, more than Mehalah, undoubtedly the ablest, most highly concentrated the many novels Sabine Baring-Gould, before the year was out was hailed by some its reviewers as the work a writer great promise. By December, Smith, Elder was inflating its advertisements with resounding quotations from the reviews: one the best amongst this season's crop fiction; one the most powerful has, so far as we know, appeared for many years. The Scotsman had found the work reminiscent of Emily Bronte's wonderful story 'Wuthering Heights,' and, indeed, in some respects .. . even more painful and more powerful.' The Athenaeum, qualifying its praise with objections parts the dialogue appeared stilted, was yet able to conclude that 'Mehalah' is full indication more than ordinary talent, and it is the most promising works fiction the present season has produced.2 Whatever the ultimate fate the book's reputation, there is no doubt, as the Times obituary was years later to point out, Mehalah brought its author well into notice.3