first edition Hardcover
(c.1929) · New York
by Bentley, Phyllis E.
New York: Rae D. Henkle Co., Inc.. Near Fine in Very Good dj. (c.1929). First American Edition. Hardcover. [nice clean copy, minimal shelfwear, very slight bumping to top corners; jacket has small tears and occasional minor paper loss at most corners, light surface rubbing and moderate soiling]. An early novel by this English author, "a story of maternal greed and simplicity and their effect on the lives of the children of two widows." Among the quotes from British reviews lifted for the American jacket blurb is one positing the novel as "reminiscent in its passion and power of the Bronte Sisters" (what, all of them?) -- rather an interesting observation in light of the fact that Ms. Bentley, later in her writing life, became something of a Bronte scholar, turning out no fewer than three biographical books about the clan. (She, like they, hailed from Yorkshire, which may have had something to do with it.) Prior to her breakthrough novel, "Inheritance," published in 1932, Bentley's books weren't particularly successful and are quite scarce today; this one, in fact, was the first of her works to be published in America. (The New York Times reviewer even mistakenly referred to it as her first novel.) . (Inventory #: 19321)