first edition Hardcover
(c.1960) · Boston
by Dodge, David
Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Near Fine in Very Good dj. (c.1960). First American Edition. Hardcover. [nice clean book with minor shelfwear only; the jacket shows some wear at the corners, some soiling and a few small nicks along the top edge of the rear panel]. Comic novel about a widow who's inherited a boarding house from her late husband, but whose "management has brought it close to bankruptcy," which brings her into conflict with the trustees of her husband's estate, the Citizens' National Bank. The book is narrated by the hapless bank representative, who must contend with the "giddy and improvident proprietress," her two attractive nieces-in-residence (with one of whom our narrator is smitten), and a whole panoply of wacky and colorful boarders. Published first in England, as evidenced by the slew of laudatory review quotes adoring the rear jacket panel (evoking Wodehouse and Thorne Smith); the American edition is considerably less common. . (Inventory #: 27362)