Mountolive. A Novel.

First edition. Crown 8vo. 320pp. Publisher's pale yellow cloth, blocked in purple and lettered in gilt to spine. Green, illustrated dustwrapper (priced 16s net to front flap).

Boards lightly mottled, scattered foxing to top-edge, pastedowns and free endpapers, which carries over to verso of dustwrapper, a couple of short closed tears to upper tip of jacket spine panel, else Near Fine. Contents bright and clean.

A Burgess 99 title. No. 70 on The Modern Library's list of The 100 Greatest Novels of the 20th Century. The third volume in The Alexandria Quartet sequence, being a chronicle of British expats in pre-World War II Egypt. The only third person narrative in the tetralogy, and also the most overtly political. According to Durrell's biographer Ian MacNiven, the author regarded Mountolive as the glue, the nail holding together the entire edifice of the Quartet. "A work of splendid craft and troubling veracity." –The New York Times

[Thomas & Brigham A30; NCBEL IV, 267]