Complete Short Stories

Description

Elizabeth Taylor, highly acclaimed author of classic novels such as Angel, A Game of Hide and Seek and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, is also renowned for her powerful, acutely observed stories. Here for the first time, the stories - including some only recently discovered - are collected in one volume. From the awkward passions of lonely holiday-makers to the fresh-faced anticipation of three school friends preparing for their first dance, from the minor jealousies and triumphs of marriage to tales of outsiders struggling to adapt to the genteel English countryside, with a delicate, witty touch Elizabeth Taylor illuminates the nuances of ordinary lives.

Elizabeth Taylor (1912-75) is increasingly being recognised as one of the best writers of the twentieth century. She wrote her first book, At Mrs Lippincote's, during the war while her husband was in the Royal Airforce and this was followed by eleven further novels and a children's book, Mossy Trotter. Her short stories appeared in publications including Vogue, the New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar. Rosamond Lehmann considered her writing 'sophisticated, sensitive and brilliantly amusing, with a kind of stripped, piercing feminine wit' and Kingsley Amis regarded her as 'one of the best English novelists born in this century.'

Elizabeth Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: one of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth. - Sarah Waters Taylor has remarkable skill. In all the stories there is a peculiarly satisfying mixture of wit and generosity. Their human depth is such that they can be read again and again. - Margaret Drabble Taylor's writing is honed, even laconic, especially in dialogue. Her wit, while sharp, is buoyant. She focuses on the domestic as a theatre of secret barbarism ... These are Taylor's people, beautifully present and poignant as they play out the comedy of their lives. - The Times - Helen Dunmore Must Reads: Taylor's wicked, subversive stories are a mordant delight. - Sunday Times Elizabeth Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: one of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth. - Sarah Waters Taylor has remarkable skill. In all the stories there is a peculiarly satisfying mixture of wit and generosity. Their human depth is such that they can be read again and again. - Margaret Drabble Taylor's writing is honed, even laconic, especially in dialogue. Her wit, while sharp, is buoyant. She focuses on the domestic as a theatre of secret barbarism ... These are Taylor's people, beautifully present and poignant as they play out the comedy of their lives. - The Times - Helen Dunmore Must Reads: Taylor's wicked, subversive stories are a mordant delight. - Sunday Times