THE LARKIN FAMILY TRILOGY: The Darling Buds of May; A Breath of French Air; When the Green Woods Laugh.

First editions, first printings. Three volumes. Original red, blue, and green cloth, respectively, in the Broom Lynne designed dustwrappers. A near fine set, bindings square and firm. 'The Darling Buds of May' shows some light wear to spine tips and lower board edges, minor offsetting and rippling to pastedowns, the page block lightly toned. 'A Breath of French Air' is lightly pushed to the upper spine tip, with a vertical red ink line (c. 2 mm wide) across the lower page block edge. 'When the Green Woods Laugh', with minor pushing to spine tips, a small bump to the upper outer corner of the front panel, and a previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown. The dustwrappers are notably bright and clean, showing some light rubbing to corners and extremities, and miminal toning to spines. 'Darling Buds' has a light scratch (c. 4.5 cm) to the front panel, and a small (4 mm) closed tear at the end of the scratch (only visible to the verso); there is a small letter 'G' written in pencil beneath the 'A' in the 'May' of the front panel's title. 'Green Woods' has a half-centimetre area of loss to the upper left corner of the front panel (near the fold to the spine). All three volumes are unclipped and priced 12s 6d net to their front flaps. Altogether, a very attractive set of the first three Larkin family novels.

Although Bates went on to write two more Larkin family novels ('Oh! To be in England' [1963] and 'A Little of What You Fancy' [1970]), the first three, published in consecutive years, were planned as a trilogy (the jacket of 'When the Green Woods Laugh' announces the novel as completing the trilogy). The author later wrote of his characters that "[t]he entire family is gargantuan of appetite, unenslaved by conventions, blissfully happy. [...] The Larkins' secret is in fact that they live as many of us would like to live if only we had the guts and nerve to flout the conventions. Pop and Ma demonstrate that they have the capacity by indulging deeply in love and champagne before breakfast, passion in the bluebell wood and encouraging their enchanting daughter to a life of wilful seduction." The Larkin family appeared in the ITV adaptation, 'The Darling Buds of May', over three series between 1991 and 1993 (starring David Jason, Pam Ferris, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Philip Franks).