Maconechy (5 results)

hard cover. No Jacket. Picadilly Novels series. 17.5 cm. 276 pages G. Good condition with shelf wear and edge wear to covers, pages browned.

An early reprint in the Collins 2/- Novels series.Spine sunned otherwise a very good copy issued without endpapers. 8vo 297pps.(i) + advertisement leaf. By the author of " Secret Journal of Charles Dunbar".

Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. 298pp.+ 6pp publisher's list. 7.4 inches. No dw. Navyblue cloth, titles in red on spine, and in red within a red line border on front. Covers vg, slightly rubbed spine folds, nicked at spine extremities, faint marks on front. Slightly foxed edges. Internally no owner's marks, contents as new. Written as a first-person revelation while lying under sentence of death for the murder of his wife. Scarce. (Crime Fiction, Murder, Vintage) 420g Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First edition. [vi], 310 pp. Publisher's crimson cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Very Good+ with rubbing along edges, slightly foxed edges, former owner's name in pencil on front free endpaper, in Very Good+ unclipped dust jacket with a small chip near head, a little insecting to white parts. The third book (of the four listed in Hubin) by a now-obscure author known for her macabre style. Scarce in jacket.

First edition. 297 pages + 6 of ads. The book is firmly bound in red cloth, lettered and bordered in black, the extremities are slightly bumped and rubbed. The text block is a little toned and dusty with minor marks. The dust jacket, with its striking period artwork by C. Morse (pseudonym of Salomon van Abbé (1883-1955) AKA Abbey), is the original and correctly priced at 7/6 to the spine, it is slightly grubby and rubbed, with some minor chips and closed tears to the edges. An interesting and complex novel, purporting to be written or recounted by a young man, condemned for the brutal murder of his beautiful, unfaithful wife and awaiting execution, to a childhood friend, a barrister and thus presumably a credible arbiter of truth and motivation, who is the editor and provides a long preface, a frame narrative, in which he assures us that he is seeking to explain and not to justify his friend's crime. Thus, Ballingray is given license to muse on the nature of life, existence and love in an attempt to explain the causes of his misogyny and the events that led up to the murder. A medical man, having been a sensitive child, he becomes brutalised by his work in the slums and experiences during WW1, and post-war is captivated by the beauty of his future-wife, Laura. Unfortunately, he lacks sensuality and passion, misunderstands his own motivation, and worse, seems to have little comprehension of Laura's feelings or reasons for marrying, resulting in his wife seeking her pleasures with his rakish best friend. Incidentally, they take rooms when first married in a home formerly occupied by another murderer, which doesn't help. There is also a passage in which he is describing an attractive young man in a manner which seems to hint at repressed homosexuality, though this is not made explicit. The novel gradually dissolves into a series of short essays musing on the nature of spirituality, existence, love and marriage, generally recounting wisdom our murderer has gleaned from conversations with women, and observations of former women patients who have been traumatised by unfortunate marriages. It is quite uncommon as a first edition, the red cloth possibly indicates a remainder issue as it was also issued in more expensive blue cloth lettered in red, though the 7/6 price might suggest that the publisher simply ran out of the better cloth, as remainders were usually issued at a reduced price. It is rarely found with the Abbey illustrated jacket intact.