Around [the] unpromising hokum [of the plot in Birthstone], D.M. Thomas weaves a tale full of symbolic and lyrical poetry—he is, after all, primarily a poet—leaving room for a weft of wry humour and a woof of humanity to adorn the fantasy. Speech and description, particularly of Cornwall, that oddest of English counties, are handled in a clear and fluent style…. On the whole a disappointing follow-up to the author's acclaimed Flute-Player.

Seán Wyse Jackson, "Warring Fictions," in New Statesman (© 1980 The Statesman & Nation Publishing Co. Ltd.), Vol. 99, No. 2557, March 21, 1980, p. 44.∗