The Sweet Shop Owner.

first edition of the author's first novel

This first edition of Graham Swift's debut novel, The Sweet Shop Owner is in very good condition with its original binding and dustjacket.

Swift's novel tells the story of a day in the life of a sweet shop owner, Willy Chapman, a hot summer day which turns out to be his last day alive. It explores his relationship with his wife and daughter, memories of his past, as well as the other shop owners on the same South London street. A review in the New York Times noted the 'touch of Joyce' in the novel's 'revelation of the hidden poetry of small men's lives.'

First edition; illustrated frontispiece and section headings, publisher's device, clean interior; publisher's brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt with gilt ornamentation, original uncut oxblood dustjacket lettered in yellow with image on front and back covers (lightly rubbed); 222pp.