MISS EDNA LYALL.
DNA LYALL, which is the nom-de-plume of Miss Ada Ellen Bayley, is the youngest daughter of the late Robert Bayley, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-law. She was born at Brighton, and has been heard to say, with a laugh, that she made up her mind at the age of ten to be a novelist. She had only just left school, and was still in her teens, when she wrote her first novel, "Won by Waiting"; but it was with "We Two" and "Donovan" that she made her first conspicuous hits. Miss Bayley has resided for the last few years at Eastbourne, before which time she was living at Lincoln. She is fond of travelling, and has seen much of Italy and Norway. When asked by an interviewer about the way her works were written, Miss Bayley stated: "The conception of my central character comes before my plot. I then plan the circumstances in which his individuality can be surrounded. I think every novel should have a purpose, provided it is not too prominently thrust forward. I write for two or three hours in the morning; but the time I take over my work varies." Miss Bayley is still young, and with her undeniable literary qualifications as an earnest thinker, being possessed of a vivid imagination, a delicate humour, and a simple, vigorous, as well as graceful style of writing, we may expect in the future to receive many more charming novels from her fertile pen. Perhaps less is known of the life and character of Edna Lyall than of any other writer of equal prominence of the present day. Indeed, till recently there has been a considerable amount of mystery as to who is this Edna Lyall that came to the front so rapidly as a novelist—a mystery which she has done little to clear up.
