"MEREDITH," says Arthur Symons, "I find breaking every canon of what are to me the laws of the novel, and yet I read him in preference to every other novelist. Like every English novelist, Meredith is the bond slave of 'plot.' His novels are always in action, the impressiveness with which nothing happens, when nothing is happening, is itself a strain on the energy. All of his characters are to live at full speed without a moment's repose, their very languors are to be fevers. They fascinate us by their brilliance, their energy, their experience, their conversation." 'Diana of the Crossways' exemplifies to the fullest the characteristic Meredithian action, plot, suspense and brilliancy.