The weakness of They Came Like Swallows is technical. The narrative disintegrates because you begin with little Bunny at his mother's knee, go on with little Robert who is "father's boy" and then muddle along with father. There is no unity. Otherwise the book is a sensitive, wistful reminiscence of family life, very intimate and pathetic and with some acute observation which, between one dab of the handkerchief and the next, is actually very delightful. (p. 312)

V. S. Pritchett, "New Novels," in The New Statesman & Nation (© 1937 The Statesman & Nation Publishing Co. Ltd.), Vol. XIV, No. 340, August 8, 1937, pp. 312-13.∗