Elizabeth Taylor (1912–1975) was born into a middle-class family in Berkshire, England. She held a variety of positions, including librarian and governess, before marrying a businessman in 1936. Nine years later, her first novel, At Mrs. Lippincote’s, appeared. She would go on to publish eleven more novels, including Angel and A Game of Hide and Seek (both available from NYRB Classics), four collections of short stories (many of which originally appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, and other magazines), and a children’s book, Mossy Trotter, while living with her husband and two children in Buckinghamshire. Long championed by Ivy Compton-Burnett, Barbara Pym, Robert Liddell, Kingsley Amis, and Elizabeth Jane Howard, Taylor’s novels and stories have been the basis for a number of films, including Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), starring Joan Plowright, and François Ozon’s Angel (2007). In 2013 NYRB Classics will publish a new selection of Taylor’s short stories.
Books
Angel
Liar, fantasist, monster, writer: Taylor’s title character, who rises from working-class girl to wildly famous sentimental novelist, is all of these things. She is also Taylor’s greatest creation, a character who is terrible, poignantly sympathetic, and unforgettable.
A Game of Hide and Seek
Harriet comes of age between the wars. She’s not especially charming or attractive, but she has one passion in her life: Vesey. Nothing, not marriage to another man, or motherhood, will change that. “Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: an author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth.”—Sarah Waters
Elizabeth Taylor Collection
Two books by Elizabeth Taylor: A Game of Hide and Seek and Angel at a special discount.