Mollie Hunter's The Kelpie's Pearls is something of a triumph, for fantasy and magic are made to appear natural and inevitable in a modern context of reporters, buses and policemen. Its range is considerable, from humour to suspense and from pathos to something like primitive fear. Characters and landscape are realized with complete solidity, and what begins as a simple Highland story ends as a touching plea for the recognition of natural magic in the midst of mundane things.

"Breaking the Rules: Engagement and Extravaganza in Never-Never-Land," in The Times Literary Supplement (© Times Newspapers Ltd. (London) 1964; reproduced from The Times Literary Supplement by permission), No. 3274, November 26, 1964, p. 1081.∗