20 FEBRUARY 1904, Page 22

Plwebe in Fetters. By Mrs. Baillie Reynolds. (John Murray. 6s.)—As

the whole point of this amusing little book is that Phoebe, the heroine, declined to wear her fetters, the title seems a little inappropriate. Still, it cannot be denied that the words run trippingly off the tongue, and therefore a little license may be allowed to the author. The story is slight, though enter- taining, and the author treads lightly over the delicate ground of the relations arising out of a Platonic marriage. Phoebe, the heroine, is an attractive person ; and though Donald Gilmour (the hero) is a decided prig, he is not unbearable. Mrs. Reynolds writes pleasantly, and succeeds in holding the attention of her readers.