Published by Constable and Company Limited, London; 1985. 8vo. 192pp. First edition, first impression. Condition: Fine/Fine

Bound in original black cloth boards with title in silver to the spine. The binding is square and tight and in excellent condition, with just a couple of black marks and barely a hint of bumping to the spine ends. Inside, the pages are clean and bright with no signs of wear or blemishes, save a touch of toning to the page edges.

The book is housed in its original, first issue dust jacket, which is in beautiful condition, vibrant and bright with no damage or marks. It complements the book perfectly.

In all, this is a lovely example of this first edition by Lynch, in which he brilliantly recreates a environment no completely vanished and he populates it with a memorable cast. His absorbing and richly enjoyable novel, winner of the Constable Trophy in 1983, portrays a world of grinding poverty and pulsing vitality, where dead cats bob in the stinking River Medlock and children's deaths are commonplace, yet where ingenuity and chirpy humour flourish as indomitably as weeds push through the cobbles (blurb).