In a Summer Season

In a Summer Season is one of Elizabeth Taylor's finest novels in which, in a moving and powerful climax, she reveals love to be the thing it is: beautiful, often funny, and sometimes tragic.

'You taste of rain', he said, kissing her. 'People say I married her for her money', he thought contentedly, and for the moment was full of the self-respect that loving her had given him.

Kate Heron is a wealthy, charming widow who marries, much to the disapproval of friends and neighbours, a man ten years her junior: the attractive, feckless Dermot. Then comes the return of Kate's old friend Charles - intelligent, kind and now widowed, with his beautiful young daughter. Kate watches happily as their two families are drawn together, finding his presence reassuringly familiar, but slowly she becomes aware of subtle undercurrents that begin to disturb the calm surface of their friendship. Before long, even she cannot ignore the gathering storm . . .

“Witty, hilarious, astringent, devastating - her impeccable style can do anything and with seemingly effortless ease-- Neel Mukherjee”

'Her stories remain with one, indelibly, as though they had been some turning point in one's own experience' ELIZABETH BOWEN 'Jane Austen, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Bowen - soul-sisters all' ANNE TYLER 'One of the most underrated novelists of the twentieth century' ANTONIA FRASER 'One of Taylor's best novels' NEW STATESMAN 'It's smashing ...When you've finished In a Summer Season, you are totally fired up to read every book that Taylor ever wrote' VAL HENNESSEY 'How deeply I envy any reader coming to her for the first time!' ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD

Elizabeth Taylor (1912-1975) was born and educated in Reading. After leaving school she worked as a governess and later in a library. She lived much of her married life in the village of Penn in Buckinghamshire.

'Witty, hilarious, astringent, devastating - her impeccable style can do anything and with seemingly effortless ease' Neel Mukherjee Much to the disapproval of her friends, Kate Heron marries handsome, feckless Dermot, a man ten years her junior. When Charles, her old friend, visits with his his beautiful daughter, Kate watches happily as their two families are drawn together. Although she finds Charles' presence reassuringly familiar, slowly she becomes aware of subtle undercurrents that begin to disturb the calm surface of their friendship. Before long, even Kate cannot ignore the gathering storm . . . 'Elizabeth Taylor has an eye as sharply all-seeing as her prose is elegant - even the humdrum becomes astonishing when told in language that always aims for descriptive integrity, without a clich in sight' Daily Telegraph 'When you've finished In a Summer Season, you are totally fired up to read every book that Taylor ever wrote' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail Introduced by Elisabeth Russell Taylor

Kate Heron, a wealthy, charming widow, has married a man ten years her junior, the attractive and feckless Dermot. Their special love arms them against the disapproval of conservative friends and neighbors--until the return of Kate's old friend Charles, intelligent, kind, and now widowed with a beautiful daughter. At first Kate watches happily as the two families are drawn together, only dimly aware of the subtle undercurrents beginning to disturb the calm surface of their friendship. Before long, however, even she cannot ignore the gathering storm.

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