MACLAREN-ROSS, J. ~ Until the Day She Dies.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Hamish Hamilton, London: 1960.

8vo., bright red cloth lettered in silver to spine with publisher's device to foot; together in the unclipped photographic dustwrapper (12s. 6d. net) featuring an image from the Oxford Mail; THE BOOK near-fine, very mild bumping to spine tips; a couple of spots to outer edge, faint offsetting and the odd brown mark to endleaves; THE WRAPPER very good, light shelfwear, with a couple of closed tears to lower panel; some heavier creasing and a couple of longer tears to head of spine and front panel, the longest 3cm in length, completely unrestored. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition, first printing. The British writer and literary critic Julian Maclaren-Ross (1912–1964) was born in London, and moved with his family to France in 1921. There, he received his education, but by the age of 21 had returned to the UK, determined to become a writer. During this time, he worked as a door-to-door salesman, writing radio plays in his spare time, one of which was broadcast by the BBC. His first break was with the short story 'A Bit of a Smash in Madras', which was published in 'Horizon' in 1940. Horizon continued to publish his work throughout the war, and short sketches by Maclaren-Ross, many of them satirical, began to appear in other publications including 'Penguin New Writing' and 'English Story'. Imprisoned for desertion, he later went on to work with Dylan Thomas as a scriptwriter on propaganda documentaries, and then became a literary critic for the TLS. 'Until the Day She Dies' was published towards the middle of his long career, after a period of homelessness, drug use, and further prison terms. Originally a series of radio plays on the 'Light Programme' and later adapted into this novel, the thrilling plot follows a detective story writer who meets a girl on a train and later discovers she is about to be murdered. The author passed away just four years after the book was published. Very scarce in the dustwrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Very Good