The naturalistic novel, first published in a daily newspaper (1888–1889), instantly established Couperus as a household name in the Netherlands.

Composer Alexander Voormolen dedicated his Nocturne for Eline (1957) to the protagonist of the novel.

[2] After the publication of the translation by Ina Rilke, the book was reviewed in The Scotsman in 2010: "Couperus is a fine, driving storyteller even when he's off telling fairy stories in some symbolist landscape as in the rather mimsy Psyche.

He wrote Eline Vere for serialisation, so it has the energy of the great Victorian novels without the melodrama, something astounding spread over 600 careful pages.

... Rediscovered novels usually make you realise why they were lost in the first place, but Eline Vere is an exception: a pleasure we've missed for far too long.