{"product_id":"2026100012120-secondhand-the-egoist-a-comedy-in-narrative","title":"The Egoist: A Comedy In Narrative","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePages: Yellowed\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the heart of Victorian satire stands The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative, George Meredith's razor-sharp dissection of aristocratic vanity and romantic self-deception, set against the manicured lawns and drawing rooms of an English country estate. The novel chronicles the courtship of Sir Willoughby Patterne — a man of impeccable breeding and boundless self-regard — whose relentless pursuit of an ideal, subservient wife leads him into a battle of wills with the spirited and intellectually formidable Clara Middleton, a woman determined to escape his gilded cage before the wedding bells toll.\n\nMeredith constructs his narrative with a wit as polished as it is merciless, wielding irony and psychological acuity to expose the performative nature of social convention and the quiet heroism required to defy it. First published in 1879, the novel stands as a landmark of Victorian literature, anticipating the modernist interior focus that would define the century to come, and earning admiration from writers as towering as Virginia Woolf. This Heron Books edition, with an introduction by Malcolm Elwin and original illustrations by Sandra Archibald, presents Meredith's masterwork in a form worthy of its brilliance — leaving the reader to wonder how many Sir Willoughbys still walk among us today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51070622105819,"sku":"2026100012120-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/6e468917-2b05-4f4f-9c26-98f0d9afb646.png?v=1794188101","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100012120-secondhand-the-egoist-a-comedy-in-narrative","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}