An Aspidistra in Babylon
Four novellas from H E Bates
Author
H E Bates
Publisher
Michael Joseph, London, 1960
Printing Details
First edition, first printing. Hardback in dustwrapper. 20.5 × 13cm, 239pp.
This collection of four novellas continue Bates's sensitive, often witty, explorations of unhappy love. The title story, 'An Aspidistra in Babylon', is a reminiscence of a girl's loss of innocence. Christine, who describes herself at eighteen as 'dull as one of the aspidistras that cluttered up... our little boarding house' is seduced by the forty-year-old Captain Blaine, who charms her imagination with stories of a life on the Continent.
Condition
The book is in good solid condition, with heavy foxing to the pages edges. The dustwrapper is tanned to the spine but remains attractive and is now within a protective sleeve.