Before My Time by Niccolo´ Tucci hits the £1 shelf in my shop.
Jonathan Cape, 1963, Hardback in dust wrapper.
From the cover: The ornate world of infinite wealth at the turn of the century is the setting of Before My Time. In this huge glittering chronicle Niccolo Tucci re-discovers his family history and re-creates an atmosphere of emotional as well as worldly opulence that has in our lifetime faded from the world.
Against this elaborate background, a young and beautiful girl (the authors mother before her marriage) is seen travelling in Europe with her own extraordinary mother. The girl is romantic, sheltered, unformed. The older woman, a figure of tyrannical strength and intellectual power, is both a life-giver and a life-destroyer the matriarch of a large, wildly emotional, Russian millionaire family.
Daughter and mother travelling like royalty with a retinue of master chef, butler, retired governess, maids and packers, accompanied by their furniture, wardrobe trunks and a famous chaise percee meet a young Italian doctor of peasant stock. He is austere, dedicated, provincial and puritanical. He and the girl fall in love. His passion for her, and his progressive entanglement with her insanely extravagant world of endless money and family intrigue these are the central threads of the book. The action moves from Italy to Switzerland, to France, to Germany. Always in the background is the Russia of the Tsars. It is impossible to do more than suggest the majesty, the brilliance, and the wit of this enthralling chronicle.
Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Unlaminated dust wrapper a little edgeworn and faded with several short tears and heavier rubbing to the spine ends and tips. Leans slightly. Edges of the text block lightly tanned. Text complete, clean and tight.
Green boards with Gilt titling to the Spine.
638 pages. 8″ x 5½”.
This book will be listed, sooner or later, for £6.50 on my delightful website… but get 50% off buying from my blog… below…
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