 Gibbons's writing has been praised by critics for its perspicacity, sense of fun, charm, wit and descriptive skill — the last a product of her journalistic training — which she used to convey both atmosphere and character. Although Beauman refers to "malicious wit", Truss sees no cruelty in the often barbed humour, which reflected Gibbons's detestation of pomposity and pretence. Truss has described Gibbons as "the Jane Austen of the 20th century", a parallel which the novelist Malcolm Bradbury thought apt; Flora Poste in Cold Comfort Farm, with her "higher common sense", is "a Jane-ite heroine transformed into a clear-eyed modern woman". Bradbury also observed that many of Gibbons's novels end in Austen-like nuptials.
