28 MARCH 1874, Page 22

Jupiter's Daughters. By Mrs. Charles Jenkins. (Smith and Elder.) —In

her speciality —the description of French character and manners —Mrs. Jenkins is as admirable as before. Nothing could be better than the picture of society in St. Gloi, a second-rate provincial town. But Mrs. Jenkins writes with an object, and here it is, to contrast by a story of practical results French and English modes of settling mar- riages; the plot of her tale has to be modified accordingly, and thus we find ourselves much less delighted at the general results of her volume than we had at first hoped to be. To put the matter in other words, "Part I.," which is mainly descriptive, is excellent ; "Part L," which is mainly narrative, far less attractive. We cannot help asking, who was it that suggested this most absurd of all titles ? It does not, of course, in the least describe the book, and we cannot imagine it to be attractive.