Item #7862 The Camberwell Beauty and Other Stories. V. S. Pritchett, William Trevor, Clifford Harper, Intro., Illust.

The Camberwell Beauty and Other Stories

London: The Folio Society, 2011.

Hardcover. 9 1/2" X 6 1/2". xiii, 387pp. Very mild shelf wear to covers, corners, and edges of decorative cloth over boards. Blind stamp to half-title page. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is firm and sound. Slipcase is clean and sound.

ABOUT THIS BOOK:
Pritchett skilfully evokes the tiny acts of courage, betrayal and deception that make up the petty tragedies of ordinary life. In his dense, many-layered tales, whole vistas exist just beyond the story's confines; characters and plot linger in the mind long after the final page is turned. Hilda in 'When My Girl Comes Home' is feared dead in a Japanese POW camp. Only her mother keeps faith, and slaves to save money for her lost daughter. Hilda returns at last, well-groomed and sleek, talking of the man who will write a book of her life. Is she a fantasist? A whore, as other women whisper? Or a loving daughter desperate for a chance of freedom and happiness? In 'The Camberwell Beauty', the beautiful but damaged Isabel has married an elderly antiques dealer: 'He likes to look at me. I am the most precious thing he has'. 'That isn't love,' cries the narrator, but his own passion mirrors the antique dealer's lust to possess another's 'treasure'. Pritchett inspired generations of short-story writers, and William Trevor is one of many to acknowledge a debt. Trevor has personally selected and introduced 25 stories for this collection, taken from every stage in Pritchett's luminous career.(Publisher). Very good +. Item #7862

Price: $45.00