The House on the Hill

1956, first UK edition, this copy signed to Neville Braybrooke from Derek Stanford and Muriel Spark

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First UK edition. Hardback in dustwrapper. 19 × 12.5cm, 192pp.

This copy was presented to Neville Braybrooke by Derek Stanford and his then lover, Muriel Spark, with their doodles.

First published in Italy as La Casa in Collina. June, 1943. Allied aircraft are bombing Turin; fascist Italy is on its knees. Every evening, after a day's teaching in the city, Corrado returns to the safety of the hills and the care of his two doting landladies. He has no attachments, no obligations. Yet against his better judgement he is drawn to the easy warmth of a circle of anti-fascists who congregate at a nearby tavern, and confronted with a painful choice: emotional and political commitment, with all its dangers—or devastating retreat. Pavese's extraordinary semi-autobiographical novel is a lucid portrayal of missed opportunities and human weakness, set against the seductive intensity of the Italian countryside.

Condition

The book is in very good condition, with some tanning to the pages. The dustwrapper is chipped to the edges and spine ends, and has some surface grubbying but is not price-clipped and now within a protective sleeve.