Richler, Mordecai ~ The Acrobats

FIRST UK PRINTING : Andre Deutsch Limited, London : 1954

The First UK printing published by Andre Deutsch Limited, London in 1954. 8vo, forest green publisher's boards, backstrip lettered in gilt with publisher's device to foot; together in the vibrant pictorial wrapper in green, blue and black, featuring a striking image with a couple in a bedroom overlooking a city scene ; The BOOK is in Very Good++ or better condition with mild sunning to the spine tips and offsetting to the end-papers; a couple of small dark marks to the outer text-block edge; the Very Good++ WRAPPER is complete and a little toned, with some light shelf wear and marking to the lower panel and flap, including a couple of small pink stains; small losses to the spine ends and tips of folds; Some splitting along the spine in places with a 3cm closed tear at the lower front spine fold. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. Richler's scarce first novel, later published under the title 'Wicked we Love' in July 1955. Born in Quebec, Richler moved to London in 1954, and it was there that his first novel was published. The plot follows a Canadian painter living in Valencia, as, surrounded by disillusioned expatriates and revolutionaries, he struggles to come to terms with the aftermath of the war and the guilt of leaving his native country. The author himself struggled with the distance he had put between himself and the country in which he grew up, writing frequently about his former neighbourhood and "about being so long away from the roots of my discontent." He returned to Montreal in 1972, and died close to the place where he was born in 2001.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good++
JACKET: Very Good++