A Tale of T his experimentation is no of critics, most notably Sir James Fitzjames Stephen writing in Saturday Review, criticized the novel precisely for its popularity. Most of the critics writing in the intellectual and literary journals of the day considered popular success a good reason to condemn a work, explains Glancy. If the public liked it, they certainly could not be seen to approve of it at all. Modern critical opinion, however, has given the novel an important place among Dickenss most mature works of fiction.
