Gone to Earth by Webb, Mary - 1985

UK: Penguin, 1985. A very clean copy of this facsimile edition issued as part of a boxed commemorative set of Penguins with 284 nicely presented pp & covers. "Gone to Earth" is the story of a free-spirited country lass, who is loved both by the wicked squire and the altruistic minister. Gone To Earth - Written in 1917, when all three of Mary Webb’s younger brothers were serving in the trenches of the Western Front, Gone to Earth denounces the callous inhumanity of “civilized” man. Webb’s second novel is a work of high imagination that reflects her horror at the slaughter of young soldiers, yet she never mentions the war that was devastating Europe at the time. Webb clothes her message in the setting and characters she knows best, Shropshire, and translates her anguish and compassion into poetic images. The title of the book is taken from the hunter’s cry, Gone to Earth! when the fox has fled into its underground den. Webb cries out through this allegorical story: why do men, seeing something innocent and beautiful, seek to destroy it? In 1917 Rebecca West proclaimed Gone to Earth as Novel of the Year. Add our very nice copy to your shelves & decide for yourself.. Papeback. Excellent/None issued. 18cm.