Complete Short Stories

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.

“Though a successful novelist, it is with the short story that Elizabeth Taylor really excelled . . . she is consistently able to look unflinchingly on things that most would turn away from, yet there is always an underlying compassion and humanity to her work.”

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

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.'

'Like Jane Austen, like Barbara Pym, like Elizabeth Bowen - soul-sisters all - Elizabeth Taylor made it her business to explore the quirky underside of so-called civilisation' Anne Tyler Elizabeth Taylor, highly acclaimed author of many 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 short 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 is finally being recognised as an important British author: an author of great subtlety, compassion and depth. As a reader, I have found huge pleasure in returning to Taylor's novels and short stories many times over. As a writer I've returned to her too - in awe of her achievements, and trying to work out how she does it'Sarah Waters 'Taylor has remarkable, unobtrusive skill . . . In all the stories there is a peculiarly satisfying mixture of wit and generosity. The human depth of the stories is such that they can be read again and again' Margaret Drabble

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.

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