Book of the Month Club Edition
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"Every window within sight was shattered. The rooms stood open to the rain. The curtains blew about, sopping and forlorn. Behind him, in the garage, lay his wife, Joan, sleeping in an overcoat. Baby Joan slept beside her, with 6-year-old Phyllis and 3 year old Peter and Nurse in makeshift beds on the oil-stained floor. Peter Corbett, dazed and stiff, stood looking at the wreck of his house and garden...
The first bomb had fallen shortly before midnight. Instantly the lights had gone. Huddled with Joan and the children, he had heard the crash of masonry, the sirens of police cars. "I think this must be an air raid." said Peter Corbett, uncertainly... Thousands of men like Peter Corbett, men with wives, children, homes, jobs, throughout the Midland cities of England, stood asking themselves the same questions, in the same bewilderment. Who was "the enemy"? Was the country really "at War"? Why hadn't they heard the planes?... The phone went dead. There was no gas, electricity, radio, newspaper, milk for the children. Water was scarce, the sewers burst. But each morning Southampton, Peter Corbett's town, rallied, became its usual busy, enterprising self, worked to repair the damages. Then at night the planes came, flying at great heights, beyond range of lights or guns, taking no aim, just dumping their stuff. When cholera broke out, Peter smuggled his family out of the city to his little boat at Hamble, for there must be some safety on the quiet rivers of England. On the Sonia, "bought sixteenth-hand," Peter and Joan, working shoulder to shoulder, found a kind of water gypsies' life till the dramatic hour which brought him sharp up against the decision of any man with a family in the next World War: whether to join the colors, or to see his people to safety as his only vital job. ORDEAL is no "scare" story. It is a fast, rich, exciting novel, written with complete simplicity, utter lack of emotionalism. It is not so much a study of war as of the human spirit, of its infinite capacity to endure, and to re-shape the world to its destiny - though that world be torn asunder." |
| The Ordeal title was originally published by William Morrow & Company, for the U.S. Market in 1939. William Heinemann Ltd. (British Publisher) published this story under the title, What Happened to the Corbetts, the same year. |
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The first edition/printing of Ordeal may be one of the most confusing, difficult, and controversial titles to distinguish, of the William Morrow & Company editions, and therefore one of the most incorrectly identified. Perhaps this is due to the rarity of remaining first editions in circulation.
William Morrow & Company has printed the book price on the inside upper right hand corner of it's Nevil Shute first editions, and it is no different with this edition. Beyond this identifying mark, one has to look carefully to notices the differences.... To assist in identifying a first edition/first printing of the William Morrow edition, verify the following details of the dust jacket: 1. William Morrow & Company should be consistently listed as the publisher in the book. 2. The book must not show any later printing (ex. Second Printing) on the copyright page. 3. A price of $2.50 should be listed in the upper right hand corner of the inside front flap of the dust jacket (see image below). 4. Edges of the inside flaps of the dust jacket are clipped (see images below). 5. The city and ships shown in the darkness of night, should not be dulled out, but a true black (see images below). 6. There is no mention of The Book of the Month Club on dust jacket. The various editions of dust jackets in this title have more pronounced differences than the books themselves, although, it was pointed out to me, by the careful observation of someone who had a book whose dust jacket met all six criteria above, that the distance between the tip of the L in ORDEAL and the top of the first R in MORROW, on the book's cloth spine is 4.1 mm, rather than 4.4 mm of his book club edition. |
| This is a cross-section of the first edition jacket. Notice that the city in the darkness of night is dark, yet shows some detail. |
| This is a cross-section of the book club edition jacket. Upon very close inspection, you will notice that the city area has a lack of detail, absent of the rich deep color, with a dull appearance. Other than this minuscule difference, the front cover of the two editions appear identical. |
| A side by side comparison of the first edition and the book club edition shows the first edition with a resale price listed in the upper right hand corner against a clipped edge, and the book club edition with no price, and edges unclipped. |
| *The collecting tips on the The Nevil Shute Book Page website are only provided as a tool to assist in identifying the original publications of Nevil Shute titles. Several people have generously contributed information and images to enhance its appearance and accuracy, however, please keep in mind that this site will always be a work in progress and have the potential for error. Regardless of the author you collect, I would strongly recommend that consumers/collectors never rely solely on a single source for determining the value or status of their book, including this website. Always seek multiple reliable resources to evaluate your edition. |
| Special thanks to M. Grider, K. Theis, and S. Snider for information and/or images contributed for this page. |
