["Because of Madeline"] is a subtle story, complex in structure as the narrator shifts back and forth in time, remembering and analyzing those disturbing moments of self-evaluation—especially the realization of latent snobbery. It is one of Mrs. Stolz' most searching studies of motives and manners, of social and human values. And, for all its knowledgeable, witty picture of sub-deb life, it presents a situation that could happen in almost any school (p. 20)

Ellen Lewis Buell, in The New York Times Book Review (© 1957 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), April 21, 1957.