13 MARCH 1926, Page 47

Simple Annals. By Stacey W. Hyde. (Noel Douglas. /s. 6d.

net.)- -The annals of the poor, even in Gray's time, were probably far from simple ; to-day they can be very com- plicated indeed. Even so, however, Mr. Hyde's heroine and hero are so very complex that one naturally assumes a touch of derision in the title. The story of William Vivian Bailey, the engineer son of a bricklayer, and Nora Sheriff, the daughter of a retired works manager-a wandering envangclist inter- vening-is uncommonly well told and displays unusual powers of observation and imagination.