Published by Viking, London; 2005. First edition, first impression. 248pp. 8vo. Condition: Fine/Fine **Signed by author to title page**
Bound in original dark red cloth boards with gilt title to the spine. The binding is square and tight and free from any damage or marks. Inside, the pages are clean and bright and in very smart condition. There is just a little staining to the rims of the pages. The book is signed by the author to the title page. It reads: "to Allen and Beryl all best wishes, Pen [Penelope] Lively".
This highly original form of fictional autobiography examines alternate destinies, choices and the moments in our lives where we could have chosen a different path. The author takes moments from her own life and asks 'what if'? What if her family hadn't escaped Egypt in 1942, what if she had become pregnant when she was 18 what if she had married someone else, what is she had become an archaeologist...where would life have taken her, how different would her life have been?