H G Wells : Christina Alberta's Father : 1st /1st Edition 1925 : Dust Jacket

Christina Alberta's Father

By H G Wells

Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1925. First Edition, First Printing. Hardback book in original unclipped dust jacket. 8vo, 410 pages.

CONDITION
A very good first edition. The original dust jacket remains unclipped and is in very good condition with no tears. BOards and spine very good. Endpapers good. No names or writing. All contents present and pages clean throughout. Overall a very good first edition.

SUMMARY
Starting off as a seemingly light-hearted novel of social realism, highlighting the class system of contemporary society, much like he did in Kipps, Wells soon lambasts the then-current state of mental health legislation and of lunatic asylums, before ending the novel with the characters discussing feminism and the conflict between individual independence and being a willing part of a greater society. With the title character of the father dying of pneumonia after rescue from a mental hospital, and his daughter Christina Albert refusing to marry her love interest Bobby Roothers (after candidly admitting to him that she is no longer a virgin), the expected happy ending does not occur. Perhaps due to its descent into open didacticism, the novel was not one of Wells' most successful or popular.

(Location : Glass Cabinet 4)