PART OF THE FURNITURE.** [Author SIGNED copy.**]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. NFINE/NFINE. No owner inscrptn but author's neat,handwritten black ink signature - without dedication to title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,wrap-around white background with glossy,colour pictorial moonlit night's beach cove illustration by Susan Moxley, illustrated front of dw/dj,with capitalised black-lettered author name and capitalised, blue/grey-lettered title+author name to front of dw/dj; very lightly sunned(?) spine/backstrip with capitalised black-lettered author name and (faded) capitalised, blue-lettered title,and pubcapitalised,black-lettered and illustrated name+colophon to foot of same,rear panel of dw/dj with white background and 9 critics' black+blue lettered review,s to six of her previous novels.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present. Top+fore-edges inevitably but lightly aged/toned and virtually without foxing/spotting; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips – appears unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright, crisp, clean/unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain navy blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip,a dark blue+white/silver(?) striped headband,and immaculate plain green endpapers. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-255pp [paginated] includes 47 chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title,author SIGNED title page,and a dedication with a blank reverse. Forms a triptych with her other wartime novels,'The Camomile Lawn' and 'A Sensible Life'. Want more Mary WESLEYS books? For similar and other titles please search my MODERN FIRSTS2, MODERN FIRSTS and my SIGNED catalogues.See also my book ID rja976 for an UNCORRECTED PROOF of this same title and book IDs' rja606816 and rja1111223 for other UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edns of this title - rja1111223 author SIGNED. Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable and even/particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation,for a book of its 25+ year-old age. It is only the minimal and age-acquired faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading overall.Despite those described it really is still an exceptional copy for its overall cleanliness and lack of other,major detracting faults. Early in 1941,having just seen off at Euston Station the two young men whom she has loved for the best part of her seventeen years,Juno Marlowe is hurrying down a London street with her ill-fitting shoes in her hands. Airplanes thunder overhead; a battery of guns opens up. When a stick of bombs falls she cowers,then takes to her heels in flight.She is rescued from this nightmare by a gaunt stranger,frail and older than his years,and,guiding her up his front stairs,he offers her the protection of his house. Given this respite from the bleakness of having no home and no family to turn to,Juno first encounters tragedy,then a series of events which take her to a house in the West Country and the blossoming of an English spring into which war only occasionally intrudes.Here she may find peace; here she will no longer be part of the furniture.
Mary Wesley's new novel (then 1997),full of her customary warmth and joyful wit,encompasses all manner of emotion and experience with a striking clarity of sense and expression.Forming a triptych with her other wartime novels,'The Camomile Lawn' and 'A Sensible Life',this is one of her finest yet. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **