Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes by Van Dyke, Henry - (c.1965)

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Near Fine in Very Good+ dj. (c.1965). Unstated/1st?. Hardcover. [nice clean copy, minor shelfwear; jacket shows just a trace of soiling]. African-American author's first novel, presenting "a portrait of two elderly widows who have developed a kinship beyond the boundaries of class, wealth, and race, by virtue of their close association with one another for more than thirty years. This kinship between Etta Klein, a rich Jewish lady in a small midwestern town, and Harriet Gibbs, her Negro servant-companion, is characterized by bickering, fussing, and expressions of affection -- except for those mutually painful spells when they refuse to speak to each other altogether. [The story] is told by 17-year-old Oliver, Aunt Harry's nephew, who acts as surrogate for Mrs. Klein's dead son Sergeant and carries messages back and forth when the two ladies aren't speaking." .