[1] The title is a quote from the sonnet sequence Modern Love by George Meredith: "Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul/ When hot for certainties in this our life!"

North noted that the novel includes "distinguished prose"and "believable characters" and that Glasgow "can fashion a story with remarkable craftsmanship".

[...] Sex, when mentioned, is in terms of romantic conquest, the 'destructive' impulse, light flirtation, or something slightly ugly.

Screenwriter Howard Koch adapted the novel for the screen, downplaying the incestuous aspect of William Fitzroy's relationship with his niece Stanley, and the portrayal of contemporary racial discrimination in the South.

Koch also gave the characters played by Olivia de Havilland and George Brent a happy ending, together, that does not occur in the novel.