KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE (First edition - second printing, with the scarce wraparound band)

A second printing, published in 1983, a year after the first printing - complete with the seldom found wraparound band stating 'Winner of the 1983 Somerset Maugham Award' of Lisa St Aubin de Terán's semi-autobiographical novel, which was the winner of the 1983 Somerset Maugham Award. ***Near fine in blue cloth-covered boards, with gilt tiles to the spine. Boards clean and unmarked. No bumps. Corners sharp. The bottom edge of the text-block has a publisher's 'D' stamp indicating 'discarded or damaged', but the book has no discernible damage. Spine tight. Internally also near fine, with a previous owner's name and date in ink on the front free endpaper. Contents clean. No creases or tears. Spine tight. ***In a near fine attractive colour illustrated dustwrapper, designed by Jenny Tylden-Wright. The dustwrapper has not been price-clipped, but has a publisher's re-pricing sticker on the front flap showing a price of £8.95p. The dustwrapper is virtually flawless, with no tears chips or creasing. There is just some light fading to the spine colour which has also affected that portion of the wraparound band. Dustwrapper bright. ***183 pages. 224mm x 145mm. ***'Lisa St Aubin de Terán was born in 1953 (to Joan Mary Murray and Jan Carew) and brought up in Clapham in South London. She attended James Allen's Girls' School. Her memoir, Hacienda (1998), describes how she fell into a whirlwind first marriage to an exiled Venezuelan landowner, Jaime Terán, and lived for seven years at a remote farm in the Andean region of Venezuela.' (which this novel was based on) ***'"Keepers of the House" is the debut novel of Lisa St Aubin de Terán, published as "The Long Way Home" in the US. The novel is autobiographical and set in a Venezuelan valley beset by drought. First published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape it won the Somerset Maugham Award. ***Synopsis - The story concerns Lydia an Englishwoman who has married Diego, the second to last survivor of the Beltrán family. They return to La Bebella, a dilapidated mansion on a neglected estate upon which years of drought and disease have taken their toll. Only Benito, her husband's retainer, remains and when her husband becomes depressed and a virtual recluse, Lydia has to take on the management of the estate with its sparse avocado and sugar cane crops. Benito recounts to her the history of the family and its gradual decline and it is this history and the characters concerned which forms the bulk of the narrative. (Wiki) ***A second printing of Lisa St Aubin de Terán's first novel, with the scarce publisher's wraparound band present. Uncommon thus. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.…