Gracechurch. By John Ayscough. (Longmans and Co. 6s.)—We are all
by this time familiar with the standpoint of the writer who assumes the name of "John Ayscough." And as this book of studies purports to be the autobio- graphy of "John Ayscough" as a small boy, this standpoint is more than usually prominent. There is some- thing of the charm of "Cranford" in many of the sketches of the little country town of Gracechurch, though Mr. Ayscough cannot command Mrs. Gaskell's delightful gift of quiet humour. Gracechurch, however, contains some very good reading, and some of the little stories have a touch of pleasant sentimentality. There is not the power in this book which the reader has welcomed in some of Mr. Ayscough's longer novels, but the narrative, or narra- tives, ripple pleasantly on, and the small boy who figures as the narrator is a pleasant youth, though it may be suggested that his account of his feelings and emotions is coloured more than he suspects by his experiences in later life.
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