“Sitting here, and thus, she had attained to a state which she could never have desired, not even conceived. And being so unforeseen, so alien to her character and upbringing, her felicity had an absolute perfection; no comparison between the desired and the actual could tear holes in it, no ambition whisper, But this is not quite what you wanted, is it?”― Sylvia Townsend Warner, Summer Will Show
 
Sylvia Townsend Warner was a famous british writer and musicologist, her prose style is seen as "cerebral and precise as Henry James while also engaging with history and politics in a fascinating way". In 1930, she went to Dorset and met Theodore Powys, from the famous writer family Powys. Together with two other men, she published works of Theodore and even met her future love, poet Valentine Ackland, at his home. They bought a cottage and lived there together until 1969, when Valentine died. Her book "Summer Will Show", that you can acquire here, was also written there. In this issue, you will find an inscription from Sylvia Townsend Warner from 1936, to Philippa Powys, Theodores' sister, which indicates that this copy once was held in her possession and was therefore part of the Powys Collection (see also Set of Walter Scott books, in this Shop). The book was published in the same year in London by Chatto & Windus and is in the first british edition. The condition is good, light wear on the covers and faded colour on the spine and light foxing on the inside. The book once was covered in a jacket, but this jacket is not available. 
In this book, Warner tells us about an aristocratic young woman and her friend, who go to Paris and get involved in the revolutions of 1848. It begins with Sophia Willough, who is estranged from her husband, but is content being without him as she can focus on raising her two children. When dramatic events happen, her life feels emptied: “It was boring being a woman, nothing that one did had any meat in it.”. Sophia makes her way to find her husband in Paris, where he resides alongside his mistress, a Jewish woman named Minna. Soon, Sophia finds herself strangely enchanted by Minna... At the time the revolution is roaring and Sophia finds herself swept up into the dramatic events and gains interest in the current politics and the burgeoning communist movement, which gives her a purpose in life outside of society’s rules and expectations. "The Guardian" wrote: "A novel of love, war and death; brilliantly entertaining and far ahead of its time." and Sarah Waters judged: "One of the great under-read British novelists of the twentieth century. This is my favourite of her novels". A great novel it sure is and here presented to you in a special volume.