Closing Hour [original U.K. title: Time Gentlemen! Time!]

[good solid copy with minimal shelfwear; jacket lightly worn at extremities]. The Dublin-born author's second book (and first novel) is "a little London tragedy . . . the story of a solicitor who has succumbed to the power of drink, of his wife who has become embittered by his failure and spiritual mediocrity, and of their two pallid bewildered children." Ms. Hoult (1898-1984) was rather highly regarded during the early part of her career, but over the years has been largely forgotten (despite continuing to write and publish into the 1970s). One of her slightly later novels, "There Were No Windows" (1944), was reissued by Persephone Books in 2011, but has (so far) failed to spark a full-fledged rediscovery of her work. The owner of that publishing house called her "an absolutely brilliant writer," and Irish critic Sinead Gleeson has cited "her incisive way of writing about womens lives." (The British and American editions of this book, for what it's worth, appeared almost simultaneously: the British trade edition was published on February 3, 1930 (although it seems to have been preceded just a bit by a signed/limited printing), while the American edition bears the Harper's printing code A-E (which corresponds to January 1930, although the actual publication date was February 19).)

Product Info

Publisher: Harper & Brothers

Year: 1930

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

First Edition

Seller Info

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