Black Rain

First edition. Translated from the Japanese and with a preface by John Bester. Publisher’s original orange cloth boards with black decoration to upper boards and lettering to spine. In dust jacket. Includes the scarce original obi-band. The slightest foxing to page edges. Jacket a little toned and with some off-setting from obi-band; initials in small writing to front flap. A near fine copy. *** The first English translation of this Japanese bestseller by Masuji Ibuse (1898-1993), originally published in Japanese in 1966. It’s cited as “the first true work of art to be inspired by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima”. This documentary novel, based on actual accounts, tells the story of a young woman deemed unmarriageable because of rumours that she has radiation sickness.