BLAMING

First edition, first printing. Original light brown cloth lettered in gilt (on black) to the spine, in the dustwrapper designed by Angelica Garnett. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean without inscriptions or stamps. Small bookseller's label (Foyle's) to the lower edge of the front pastedown. In the bright, dustwrapper, a few light marks visible to the spine. A touch of rubbing to tips and corners. The price has been clipped, along with a couple of words of the inner flap text. A nice copy.

'Blaming', Taylor's twelfth and final novel, was completed shortly before her death in 1975 and published posthumously. When in 2007, Robert McCrum invited 50 writers to choose and write a few sentences about an unjustly neglected book, the late Jenny Diski selected 'Blaming': "An Englishwoman's husband dies while she is on a cruise and she is befriended by Martha, an awkward, overly forthright young American woman writer. The novel describes Amy's reluctant obligation to this fragile person and her internal narrative attempting to justify the distance she wants to keep. Everyone in this book lacks a talent for friendship. People either avoid connection or impose themselves. Taylor's acerbic talent is in pitting the power of social cohesion against a nagging individualism. The style is economical and elegant as well as horridly funny. The result even for the modern reader is an exquisite pain of recognition." ('How did we miss these? Part 2', The Observer, 2 September 2007)