18 MAY 1929, Page 29

PREVAILING WINDS. By . Margaret Ayer Barnes: (Constable. 7s. 6d.)—Here are

eight short stories of real life by an American writer. Keen observation, humour, and descriptive charm are brought to the interpretation of every- day- people and everyday scenes. Miss Barnes is no mere. - entertainer, but an artist with a sure instinct for the significant. trait and the revealing situation. Irony is one of the prevailing winds to which she sets her sails ; but, unlike too many modern writers, she keeps sympathy at the helm. She is a realist in seeing the good as well as the evil, and she admirably coMbines surprise with truth. If this is her first book, its