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GROVE, VALERIE: : LAURIE LEE: The Well-loved Stranger - The Biography

LONDON.VIKING/PENGUIN GROUP,1999.

ISBN 0670881775.

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 10 - 1 descending.] FINE/FINE+.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,white background with subject's monochrome portrait photographic illustrated dw/dj,with gold/gilt coloured lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Laid in loosely,newspaper cutting of literary critics' review of (then) forthcoming publication/release of same book/ title.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain burgundy cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/ backstrip,a gold+white striped headband and immaculate facsimile diary entry handwriting illustrated endpapers.Two minor dents to front+ rear top edges in the vicinity of respective corners - not on the corners though.UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,viii-xvpp+2-560pp [paginated] includes verso of contents list/table, illustrations list/table of the 3 sections,a preface,acknowledgements,29 chapters and an epilogue,24pp contemporary b/w familial and autobiographical photographs in 3 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp144/5,pp272/3 and pp400/1 respectively,an appendix,notes,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] blank,title page,a dedication,and recto of contents page. Despite his autobiographical writings,despite his gregarious appearances on the London literary scene and in the village pub where he was always available to fans,Laurie Lee was a secretive man. Millions of readers feel they know him from the lyrical account of his Gloucestershire boyhood, immortalized in 'Cider with Rosie'.They also know that he walked out one midsummer morning in 1934 and wandered through Spain,playing the fiddle before being caught up in the Spanish Civil War.When he returned home,he spent almost the rest of his life writing about these youthful adventures. He was a poet,a playwright and a broadcaster, his books became classics,and he was devoted to two women ( see my book ID rja787418 - for 'TWO WOMEN: A Book of Words and Photographs.') : his wife and his daughter,'the firstborn'. Publicly,he fostered the Laurie Lee legend. But behind his locked study door,in the letters and diaries he left,lay the revealing clues to his private pain and passion: the girls he left behind,the woman who took him to Spain,the woman he came back too . . . and the others who nurtured,protected and loved him all his crowded,fulfilled but often tormented life. Eventually,when nearly eighty,he published a vivid and moving account of his Spanish Civil War experiences which, after his death,were questioned by fellow veterans.A fierce debate ensued in the national press about Lee's role in the war.Here for the first time,from his private correspondence,are the facts about that time and other hitherto unknown elements in the Laurie Lee story - which are even more fascinating than the legends he fostered. This is the first major biography of Laurie Lee,who died in May 1997,and is written with the authorization of his estate,who have given the author complete access to Lee's papers and letters. Valerie Grove,a journalist with a weekly interview column in The Times.Her first biography was the acclaimed 'Dear Dodie',a life of the playwright and novelist Dodie Smith. Please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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