The First UK printing published by The Harvester Press, UK in 1980. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Apart from a hint of pushing at the spine tips, the book is in excellent condition. Internally clean. The WRAPPER is complete and is in Very Good++ or better condition. The usual fading of the orange colour. The rear panel is remarkably clean. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The Book has been warmly inscribed by the author with reference to the book's title to the front blank end-paper : 'Remembering several pleasant hours spent as your guest 'in the country', Jim , April 1980'. The book has been inscribed shortly after publication. The recipient was a close friend of the author and the book has been in their possession until very recently. The book has not appeared in commerce before. 'A Month In The Country', J. L. Carr's masterpiece short novel, tells the tale of Tom Birkin, a damaged survivor of the First World War, who finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is to spend the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting. Immersed in the peace and beauty of the countryside and the unchanging rhythms of village life he experiences a sense of renewal and belief in the future. Now an old man, Birkin looks back on the idyllic summer of 1920, remembering a vanished place of blissful calm, untouched by change, a precious moment he has carried with him through the disappointments of the years. Joseph Lloyd Carr (20 May 1912 - 26 February 1994), who called himself 'Jim' or 'James' was a Yorkshire born English novelist, publisher, teacher and eccentric. He is best remembered for his acclaimed 1980 novel A Month In The Country. The novel won the 'Guardian Fiction Prize', was shortlisted for the 'Booker Prize' and was adapted into a celebrated 1987 film of the same name directed by Pat O'Connor and starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh. A very sharp copy of a title rarely found signed , more-so with such a warm inscription.