The Examiner called it "one of the cleverest novels of the day,"[6] and the Literary Gazette, though lamenting its overambitious plot, conceded that the story was "powerfully imagined".
"[10] After its success in 1866, Edwards began to produce novels with more daring heroines, which due to their popularity, raised her average fee up to a respectable £500 per work and placed her among the notable novelists of her time.
Ten of her novels were serialized in Temple Bar, then edited by George Bentley (1828–1895),[17] and her books were frequently advertised in magazines such as the Athenaeum, Saturday Review, and Scots Observer.
[18] According to the Saturday Review, her typical story was amusing, "a good shilling's worth of its kind," since she adeptly combined the styles of various well-known authors: "a fair dose of Ouida, a small allowance of M. Octave Feuillet, a situation from a once popular play, and a phrase or two from Henry James.
"[25] Although critics seem to have appreciated Edwards's descriptive skills in general, they disapproved of her detailed attention to sexual emotions, particularly regarding women.
"It does not gratify us to read that a young lady 'heaves palpitating sighs,' or that 'her small white face is bathed in sweats,'" the Saturday Review wrote.
"[27] In the case of her novel Leah, the Athenaeum noted that "the devious and dirty paths through which her characters are dragged, produce more effect upon the reader than the ultimate triumph of virtue succeeds in counteracting.
While they remained respectful of her wit and storytelling skills, they were disappointed in her workmanship: "She has not made such good use of her materials as might have been expected," William Ernest Henley stated about her novel Jet.
Saintsbury believed that rather than experiencing events first-hand or interviewing respectable individuals, her facts were based primarily on the comments of society journals, mixed with satirical remarks from high-brow magazines.
[38] The Library of Congress catalogue shows that her novels were occasionally given different titles in America from the ones they bore in the United Kingdom, e. g. Philip Earnscliffe (The Morals of May Fair), Estelle (Creeds), Delicate Ground (The Ordeal for Wives), Rival Charms (A Blue-Stocking), and At the Eleventh Hour (A Ballroom Repentance).