RENVOIZÉ, Jean. The Masker. London: Secker and Warburg. 1960. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s green cloth lettered in silver gilt to the spine, in the striking dust jacket designed by Ann Hill. This copy signed and inscribed by the author to her parents, ‘To Mama and Papa, with all my love, Jean’. A near fine copy. The cloth just a trifle browned at the foot of the spine, gently pushed at corners with one or two minor marks. The binding tight and slightly rolled, the contents clean and fine, with the author’s accent correction in ink to his name at the title page, and with a few ink transfers to the jacket front flap, minor. The jacket unclipped (16s net) and gently rubbed around spine tips and corners with a few mild stains. A pleasing copy.
Jean Renvoizé’s first novel whose theme would go on to inspire much of her career both as a novelist and as a journalist. It follows Simon, a successful actor and writer vying with his own self-assuredness and self-justification. Recently divorced, his teenage son comes to stay with him from the country to his glitzy London house, while his mistress’s continual hints of marriage encourage in Simon only the eponymous ‘masker’ to appear, a psychological coping mechanism. The author published a handful of novels usually dealing with marital breakdown and repair, often with children involved. Her non-fiction work includes much-anthologised reports, essays and investigations on such matters, including a groundbreaking report on child battery in nuclear families. A smart example with naturally unique inscription.
RENVOIZÉ, Jean. The Masker. London: Secker and Warburg. 1960. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s green cloth lettered in silver gilt to the spine, in the striking dust jacket designed by Ann Hill. This copy signed and inscribed by the author to her parents, ‘To Mama and Papa, with all my love, Jean’. A near fine copy. The cloth just a trifle browned at the foot of the spine, gently pushed at corners with one or two minor marks. The binding tight and slightly rolled, the contents clean and fine, with the author’s accent correction in ink to his name at the title page, and with a few ink transfers to the jacket front flap, minor. The jacket unclipped (16s net) and gently rubbed around spine tips and corners with a few mild stains. A pleasing copy.
Jean Renvoizé’s first novel whose theme would go on to inspire much of her career both as a novelist and as a journalist. It follows Simon, a successful actor and writer vying with his own self-assuredness and self-justification. Recently divorced, his teenage son comes to stay with him from the country to his glitzy London house, while his mistress’s continual hints of marriage encourage in Simon only the eponymous ‘masker’ to appear, a psychological coping mechanism. The author published a handful of novels usually dealing with marital breakdown and repair, often with children involved. Her non-fiction work includes much-anthologised reports, essays and investigations on such matters, including a groundbreaking report on child battery in nuclear families. A smart example with naturally unique inscription.
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