A Mile of River Allnatt, Judith Doubleday 2008 0385613067 / 9780385613064 First Edition Hardback Very Good Fine Original black boards. Both the book and dust jacket are in excellent, condition but the outer closed textblock edges have darkened / tanned a little. First printing. Not previously owned. Clean, tight, unmarked and unread. 285pp. It is 1976 and England is suffocating. The long, dry spring has given way to a summer of severe drought, with standpipes in the streets and a rallying cry to 'save water, share a bath!' For the farmers, life has become a living hell - a daily struggle to make ends meet. The fields are tinder dry, the earth is dusty and scorched and the rivers are drying up to a trickle.Jess and Tom live on a remote farm in the English countryside with their increasingly difficult and brutal father, Henry. Their mother, Sylvie, walked out years before and Jess is struggling with the role of mother figure to Tom, as well as skivvy and hired hand for her father. Jess just wants to be a normal teenager, to go to dances and kiss boys, to take her exams and dream of a future far away from milking cows and ploughing fields. Daydreaming about her mother's return, Jess discovers Sylvie's old diary and begins to uncover the shocking truth about her disappearance. As the drought grips ever tighter, as the water level of the river begins to drop, the menace in the air builds until it reaches boiling point, with a confrontation between Jess and her father that has devastating consequences. The dust jacket is supplied by us in a loose protective clear archival film sleeve. This does not adhere to the book or jacket in any way and it protects the jacket against wear. 037345 Price:
8.50 GBP