Serpents in Paradise

by Nancy Phelan

Macmillan, St Martins Press, 1967, [First Edition], hardcover, dustjacket, 

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, dustjacket has a little edge and shelf wear, with tiny chips and tears to top corner

'Nancy Phelan, with affectionate gaiety, strips away the trappings of officialdom from the administration of native people and shows white and brown alike as they really are.  Any old Pacific hand will recognise at once that Serpents in Paradise could only have been written by someone who knew intimately what life is like in an isolated tropical paradise, where ants nest in the refrigerator and cockroaches infest the outdoor shower.
The novel is as kindred to the Pacific as paw-paws for breakfast.  The experts really are bent on combating apathy and neglect, but their efforts create a tangle of bewilderment through which Serpents in Paradise twists adroitly, leaving a rustle of laughter behind it.'