Quartet
New York: Harper and Row, 1971. Reprint Edition. Octavo, publisher’s red cloth over dark gray paper-covered boards, red endpapers, spine stamped in back, upper board blind stamped, original illustrated dust jacket.
Reissue of Jean Rhys’s autobiographical first novel, published after Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) brought her back into the public eye after a long absence. Originally published in 1929, the narrative centers on Marya Zelli, who is left alone in Paris after her husband is sentenced to a year in prison. Subsequently, she is sexually and psychologically manipulated by a wealthy married couple, the Heidlers. A roman à clef, the story is based on Rhys’s time living with Ford Madox Ford and his partner Stella Bowen, and her ensuing affair with Ford. Later, Rhys admitted to her editor Diana Athill that she wrote Quartet, "because she was very angry with Ford and wanted to pay him back." James Ivory adapted the book into a film in 1981 starring Isabelle Adjani alongside Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, and Anthony Higgins. First printing with complete number row to colophon. Unclipped dust jacket with light toning and edgewear. Very good. Item #12989
$75.00