13 JUNE 1925, Page 25

Just Impediment. By Constance I. Smith. (Melrose. 7s. 6d. net.)—Two

of the principal characters of this story are old enough for their sentimental adventures not to be very attractive. The book is much concerned with the rest- lessness of a woman just passing into early middle-age, Violet Nicholls, who is married to a worthy though disagreeable husband. The men who come about the house are more attracted by a girl who lives with the Nicholls than by Violet herself. The various attractions, misunderstandings, and reconciliations of these two women, a middle-aged soupirant and a younger man form the motive of the book.