Two recent English novels—Pamela Hansford Johnson's "The Unspeakable Skipton" and Penelope Mortimer's "Cave of Ice,"… are forceful suggestions that perhaps the irrepressible magnetism of the novel lies, when all is said and done, in its elusiveness, its basic indefinability. Miss Johnson's book, which has been described in the English press as a remarkable work that enlarges the boundaries of the novel, appears to have changed shape in crossing the water, for here it seems only a highly skilled imitation of a conventional novel…. (p. 167)

"The Unspeakable Skipton" has everything that Mrs. Mortimer's book hasn't, and nothing that it has. From its beginning one is conscious of being in the presence of a Novelist at Work. Indeed, the book's structure, prose, settings, and characterizations have been exquisitely handmade, and they emit a fat, pleased Currier & Ives glow…. (p. 169)

The hero-villain is a penniless English writer, Daniel Skipton, who...