21 JULY 1888, Page 25

Seven Years for Rachel. By Anne Beale. (Religious Tract Society.)—The

writer has endeavoured to portray in the form of a romance, sketches of Welsh life and character, with some of the customs which are strange to English ears, such as the " Bidding" and "All-Hallow's Eve." Rachel, a farmer's daughter, goes out to service, and after many trials from a hot-tempered father and the usual quarrelsome mistress, brings her love-affair to a happy ending, when the book also concludes a light and pleasant sketch of Welsh manners.