Published by Andre Deutsch (London 1988). First British edition. Of an edition of 97 copies, this is a signed but unnumbered copy of the issue of 75, bound in marbled paper-covered sides and leather backstrip, in a slipcase of the same marbled design as the book sides. Issued without dust jacket. 244 pp. Unread. The leather was originally dark green, but, as often happens with green leather, exposure to light and/or air has turned the spine to dark brown. As is common with this edition, the book and slipcase are very slightly worn at some corners. That being the case, I consider both book and slipcase Brand new.

S. is the story of Sarah P. Worth, a thoroughly modern spiritual seeker who has become enamored of a Hindu mystic called the Arhat. A native New Englander, she goes west to join his ashram in Arizona, and there struggles alongside fellow sannyasins (pilgrims) in the difficult attempt to subdue ego and achieve moksha (salvation, release from illusion). S. details her adventures in letters and tapes dispatched to her husband, her daughter, her brother, her dentist, her hairdresser, and her psychiatrist - messages designed to keep her old world in order while she is creating for herself a new one. This is Hester Prynne's side of the triangle described by Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter; it is also a burlesque of the quest for enlightenment, and an affectionate meditation on American womanhood.

As the only Updike limited ever published by his British publisher, this is both scarce and unusual.