Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1945. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The fourth novel by this North Carolina author, one which focuses on the twin granddaughters of a powerful clan tightly ruled by the matriarch - Ruby became rebellious and as ambitious as she was pretty, while Tiny was a frail wistful child who nevertheless befriended a boy taunted for his poverty. Valerie Yow in her biography of Harris shows that she responded to society's strictures by exploring in fiction the paths not open to her in real life. An interesting association copy warmly INSCRIBED to Audrey Long (1922-2014), film actress of the 1940s and early 1950s; Long's second marriage in 1952 to Leslie Charteris, author of The Saint novels, seems to have ended her film career. This inscription is dated in the year of publication - 1945 - the year that was also the peak of Long's film career. Books signed or inscribed by Harris are quite uncommon. 259 pp.