Tag Archives: Elizabeth Taylor

Dorothy Whipple, “The Priory”

Posted on February 5, 2014 by carolwallace

The problem with giving people books for Christmas is the “one for you, one for me” principle.  As I was doing a little gift-wrapping back in December I found myself flipping through several alluring volumes, this among them, and beetling … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Penelope Lively, “Moon Tiger”

Posted on December 2, 2012 by carolwallace

Yes. Yes, I agree with all of you who have recommended Moon Tiger. Wonderful as Penelope Lively always is, this is probably her best book to date. (It won the Booker Prize in 1987.) I actually considered going right back … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, literary fiction | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Margaret Mitchell, “Gone with the Wind”

Posted on July 26, 2012 by carolwallace

Yes. It is still fabulous. You’ll notice I’m assuming that you have read Gone with the Wind at some point, which may be a generational thing, but everyone has seen the movie, right? Sure, both book and movie are long, but … Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, classic, historical fiction | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Elizabeth Taylor, “A View of the Harbour”

Posted on July 3, 2012 by carolwallace

Elizabeth Taylor is one of the few writers whose books I will choose blindly. If she wrote a novel and I haven’t read it, I don’t even bother to see what it’s about. Or “about,” because with Taylor there’s always … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Elizabeth Taylor, “Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont”

Posted on April 8, 2012 by carolwallace

The cover of the Virago edition of Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont shows Rupert Friend wearing a modish blue muffler, with his head tossed back as he roars with laughter, and Joan Plowright (also mufflered, though hers is pink) in … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Taylor, “Angel”

Posted on March 28, 2012 by carolwallace

Why is it that we so enjoy reading about monstrous characters? In the early pages of Angel, I was thrilled/appalled by the behavior of fifteen-year-old Angelica Deverell — but definitely more thrilled. In fact I’d been anticipating reading Angel for … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, classic | Tagged | 3 Comments

Elizabeth Taylor, “In a Summer Season”

Posted on February 8, 2012 by carolwallace

In a Summer Season opens with Kate Heron waiting on the steps of her mother-in-law’s London house, trying not to be intimidated or annoyed. She has come for lunch; her hostess is apparently not yet out of bed; she disapproves of … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Taylor, “A Game of Hide and Seek”

Posted on March 13, 2011 by carolwallace

I read Elizabeth Taylor’s Palladian back in January as part of the highly enjoyable Virago Reading Week. As if it weren’t enough fun to read splendid books and read other people’s reviews of them, Rachel of Book Snob and Carolyn of A … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, classic | Tagged | 8 Comments

Elizabeth Taylor, “Palladian”

Posted on January 26, 2011 by carolwallace

“Cassandra, with all her novel-reading, could be sure of experiencing the proper emotions, standing in her bedroom for the last time…” This is the first line of Elizabeth Taylor’s Palladian, and it certainly got my attention. Another novel about a … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, classic | Tagged , | 13 Comments