A Whistling Woman

First edition. 8vo. Pp. [vi], 422, [4 (blank)]. Black cloth boards, lettered in silver to spine; illustrated endpapers. D/w illustration: Details from A Peacock in a Classical Landscape, by Pieter Casteels.

Signed by Author to title page. Hint of toning to textblock edges, else Fine.

The conclusion to the great "Frederica Quartet," comprising The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life and Babel Tower and each complete in itself. Being Byatt's depiction of life in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century, A Whistling Woman reintroduces us to the central character of Frederica Potter, as she begins a career in writing and broadcasting. "This is a novel, a cycle of novels, a body of work for the rest of your life." –Philip Hensher, The Spectator