How were classic British novels received on first publication? Here are some early reviews:

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Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897) – from the Hampshire Advertiser

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H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898) – from the Morning Post

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Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (1907) – from the Manchester Courier 

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P. G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves (1930) – from the Manchester Guardian

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J. R. R. Tolkein, The Hobbit (1937)- from the Yorkshire Post

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Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca (1938) – from the Aberdeen Journal

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C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) – from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph

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John Wyndham, The Kraken Wakes (1953) – from the Yorkshire Post

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Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) – from the Daily Express

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George Macdonald Fraser, Flashman (1969) – from the Daily Mirror