the sub/post-Hardyesque novels of Mary Webb, such as Precious Bane [1924 - revived by tv in 50s-60s?], much admired and prize-winning back then, but whose emotive bucolic imagery &c soon fell out of fashion

When I was growing up there was a row of uniform blue hardbacks in the bottom shelf of one of the less-used bookcases; never referred to, rarely even dusted. One day I asked about them. It turned out that my mother's parents, who weren't generally extravagant, had decided to mark her coming of age in a big and memorable way, and offered to get her whatever she wanted, within reason, as a 21st birthday present. Her choice, from which she couldn't be shifted (and they did try), was a complete edition of Mary Webb. Of course, she went off Mary Webb within a couple of years, but by then it was too late.

They're gone now, as is she.