THE MONK AND THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER (Ambrose Bierce's Great Classic, Avon #628). Ambrose Bierce, Avon Books, New York.
 
Classic Fiction
First published January 1, 1892
 
On arriving at a rural monastery, the monk Ambrosius meets a young girl, Benedicta. She is shunned by the local community for being the daughter of the local hangman, but Ambrosius is drawn into a dangerous sympathy with her, and in defiance of the community and his superiors, he starts spending time alone with her. But when her virtue is corrupted by an impetuous young man, the stage is set for a battle between heart, mind, body, spirit, the sins of the past, and redemption. Allegedly a rewriting from a lost German original, Ambrose Bierce's 1892 novel reads as a seamless, almost folktale-like masterpiece. 
 
Secure text block with inner joint slightly pulled away at gutter. Lightly rubbed edges and clean pages. Softcover book with 127 pages. Undated circa 1950s.