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WESLEY**, MARY: : A SENSIBLE LIFE. [Author SIGNED copy. **]

LONDON.BANTAM PRESS/a division of Transworld Publishers Ltd.,1990.

ISBN 059301930X.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn.FINE/FINE. 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 daytime beach scene 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 publisher's capitalised,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 edges with very light discolouration and very minimal sporadic spotting,fore-edges brighter,crisper and clean without any 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 blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip,a blue+white striped headband,and immaculate plain pale blue  endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,9-363pp [paginated] includes Pts 1-5 comprising 17,14, 14, 4 and 4 chapters respectively; plus [unpaginated] half-title,author SIGNED title page,a dedication page,individual Pts separator pages,and to the rear,4pp blanks.                Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation,for a book of its 30+ year-old age. It is only the minimal faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading.Despite that it really is still an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of other detracting faults. It was the spring of 1926,and a number of middle-class English families had taken their young to Brittany for the Easter holidays.It was thought good for them to catch a glimpse of foreign soil,to see some sights and learn a few words of French.Dinard,across the river Rance from St Malo,had a beach,a casino,a tennis club and many excellent hotels and pensions.          It was a holiday Flora would never forget.A lonely ten-year-old,with thick dark hair and enormous eyelashes,ignored by her distant,self-absorbed parents,it was the first time she had encountered the good manners,good humour and generous affection of such confident young people.She fell in love with three of them: Cosmo and Hubert,fifteen-year-old English public schoolboys,close friends and on the brink of adulthood,and Felix,a cosmopolitan twenty-one-year-old Dutchman with five large and jolly sisters.                                          Spanning nearly forty years,Mary Wesley's new novel (then 1990) traces Flora's relationships with these three in a narrative rich in tenderness and wit.There is the vivid,memorable sweetness of a picnic on the Brittany beach; high comedy and youthful passion in a large English country house; dramatic sexual tension among the British in India; an idyllic awakening in Aix-en-Provence; fear and loss in the London blitz,and an unforgettable train journey; the rural peace of the West country.The story of a sensible life? Well, yes - in a way.              'A Sensible Life' is Mary Wesley's best novel to date; obsession,rejection and love are described with acute social perception and striking compassion.                              Please contact seller,for correct,insured 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 US 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. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn.
Author SIGNED - without dedication.

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