Another edition's cover
Cover of another edition of this book. The Viking 1987 jacket has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 30 Oct 2026.
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Written as Barbara Vine, this was first published by Viking in Harmondsworth in March 1987 as a hardback, ISBN 0 670 80977 2; that British edition is the true first. Check for the Viking imprint and that ISBN; the Guild Publishing book club issue is not the first, and the American edition from Bantam has its own ISBN (0 553 05215 2). Dealers offer copies with remainder marks on the top edge and ex-library copies, so inspect the page edges and check that the jacket flap is unclipped.
Viking's British list, published in London under Penguin, marks a first impression with a "First published" line and a complete number line on the reverse of the title page.
How to read it
Read the full guide to Viking first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Viking, Harmondsworth, in 1987, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 30 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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