The Bird in the Tree

New York: Coward-McCann, Inc.. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (c.1940). 3rd impression. Hardcover. NOISBN . [nice-looking copy, minor soiling to bottom edges of covers, slight scrunching to fore-edges of several pages near the end of the book, one-time owner's name and address neatly written at top of second ffep; jacket has tiny tears at a couple of bottom corners, minor edgewear elsewhere, still bright and attractive with wrap-around illustration]. This novel, the first of the author's three books about the "Eliots of Damerosehay" (also known under the series title "The Eliot Heritage") features "three marvelous youngsters and two dogs who romp through its pages and bring color and life to Damerosehay, the eighteenth-century home of the Eliots, tucked away between the marshes and the sea on a forgotten stretch of the Hampshire coast. The action of the novel all takes place during the fall of 1938, but its sources are hidden in the past [including] the obscure history of Damerosehay, which gradually unfolds, and the strange fascination the lovely old house possesses for all who visit it." In 1957 the author wrote of the characters in this book/series: "Of my various book people the dearest are the Eliots. I am almost ashamed to confess how devoted I am to them." Originally published in England by Duckworth, 1940; this is the third impression of the first American edition. . (Inventory #: 18303)