with the exception of alfred noyes, most contemporary reviews concentrated on what was perceived as the author's unhealthy preoccupation with sex. in her memoir "the swan in the evening", lehmann states 'it was discussed, and even reviewed, in certain quarters as the outpourings of a sex-maniac'. the "evening standard" cited "dusty answer" and alec waugh's "the loom of youth" as being a 'corrupting influence' on the young. the novel triggered a literary scandal and came to be regarded as an epitome of the zeitgeist.