Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Other Elizabeth Taylor by Nicola Beauman

During the summer of 2008, I stood in a bookshop skimming through the beautiful cloth-bound reissues of several books published by Virago.  Reading a few lines here and there of A Game of Hide and Seek it was placed back on the shelf and I purchased a copy of Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield instead.  One year later I came to read In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor and realized that this was an author who stood apart for me and the collecting of her other novels began.

It was the afterword in Blaming in which Taylor's daughter, Joanna, wrote how her mother had included some humourous dialogue from when she was a child that made me want to know more about the sort of woman Taylor was at home.  Ironically, Elizabeth Taylor's children were not pleased with Beauman writing about their mother.  However, I am very glad that she did.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect resource to find out more about an author I have come to admire.  The quality that strikes me most is how ordinary this author's life was as a mother struggling to find uninterrupted time to write while her children were at school or asleep.  Loving the countryside and eschewing a materialistic lifestyle, Taylor wrote from her domestic surroundings in Buckinghamshire rather than the hustle and bustle of London where she would have been surrounded by many of her contemporaries.  Which is not to say that she didn't long for the intellectual stimulation or ponder with frustration that unmarried women authors, or males, could write at their leisure without the interruptions of childcare and housework.

Elizabeth Taylor had very close friendships with Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Bowen.  I particularly enjoyed reading about a time when Taylor went to stay with Bowen and they spent their days in separate rooms while they wrote, joining each other later for drinks and conversation.  Taylor commented that the air in Bowen's room was so filled with smoke you needed a very sharp knife to cut through it.  But I was startled to learn there was a group referred to by Robert Liddell as 'The Lady-Novelists Anti-Elizabeth League', consisting of authors such as Kate O'Brien, Pamela Hansford Johnson, Kathleen Farrell and Olivia Manning, who ridiculed Taylor's work and lifestyle.  With a childish sense of relief and loyalty I am happy that none of these authors grace my bookshelves. 

One drawback of reading a biography before you've completed an author's oeuvre is that you discover the endings of unread novels.  I'm counting on the sort of mental lapse which has me forgetting why I went dashing into a room in the first place on keeping plots fresh for future reads.  But how delightful to find out that Elizabeth and her husband, John, had boys to stay with them just as in The Devastating Boys and how sad to learn that Martha's character who ends up committing suicide in Blaming is based on Elizabeth's friend, Maud.

Beauman has done a marvellous job of painting a picture of the Elizabeth Taylor I wanted to know more about.  In fact, twice my eyes stung with tears, not at any particularly poignant moment but from the sheer bliss of a fabulous read.  Despite some sensational moments in her life the images that stay with me are of a woman quietly sipping tea in a restaurant or something stronger in her local while she takes inspiration from customers for future characters.  And of a woman who could paint beautiful scenes with words on paper but was rendered practically speechless by interviewers due to her shyness.

Elizabeth Taylor passed away in 1975, I wish she knew how much I am enjoying her writing and that her books will, hopefully, be in print for many years to come.  To Nicola Beauman, thank you for all of your efforts over the fifteen years it took to bring this book to print, it was everything I had hoped for.

17 comments:

  1. Elizbeth Bowen was friends with Eudora Welty too, and it was a lot of fun to discover that when I was reading her (EW's) biography. I have this book on my shelf and will bump it up on the list now.

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  2. I have been waiting to read more Taylor so that I can read this without having the plots of the ones I haven't read spoiled. What a brilliant review - I love how touched you found yourself by her life story. I am planning an Elizabeth Taylor BINGE FEST when I go home and am reunited with my books and I will most certainly be purchasing a copy of this when I do - can't wait.

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  3. Thank you for an interesting post on a subject which is new to me.

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  4. I have yet to read through a Taylor novel, even though I have several on the shelf. I don't know why this is because so many people hold her in such high regard. I shall try again and thank you for such a splendid review of her biography by Nicola Beauman. There is only one thing I would request, and this goes for all people who say this: please, please do not use the euphemism "passed away." Elizabeth Taylor died in 1975. It is not unkind to say someone "died", just the simple truth. Please do not be offended by this remark, so many people say "passed away" in the mistaken belief it is a kinder way of saying that someone died.
    Margaret P

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  5. This sounds great. Thanks for the "spoiler alert" about some of the plots. Like you, I think I'll wait on this one but it certainly sounds just as interesting as I'd hoped!

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  6. A lovely review and so touching. I can't wait to read this but I may want to read a few more of her books before I do. How shocking and hurtful to start an anti-Elizabeth club and especially since it was totally unfounded! People can be so cruel.
    How extraordinary to read that your first introduction to ET's writing was the same as mine! :-)

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  7. Audrey, Nicola has just the right way with non-fiction, informative but with a voice that sounds like a friend is sharing stories over a cup of tea. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

    bookssnob, You have done an admirable job of immersing yourself in American literature but I can't wait for that binge fest! Just imagine...Oxfam shops all over London, restocked with gems since you've been away.

    Mystica, As always, you're most welcome. Enjoy your day!

    galant, It's fascinating to me how readers can be drawn to certain authors in an immense way while others are not. If another man of a certain age tries to sell me on James Patterson while I check out his books at the library I will scream! Having said that, I do hope you eventually come to enjoy at least one of Taylor's novels.

    Thank you for expressing your views on my use of a colloquialism, I am familiar with the dialogue on the subject. In my case, it isn't used as a way to be kind or to avoid the issue of someone's death. It is simply the way we use language in my community. Interestingly in my first draft I used 'died' but my natural way of speaking came through on the actual post. No offence taken and thank you for the discussion!

    Laura, If you are a fan of Taylor's writing then this is a must read. You will thoroughly enjoy it I promise you.

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  8. Cristina, It was a label put upon these ladies by Liddell but an accurate one, how hurtful indeed! I suppose they had a target in someone living a different lifestyle than their own, competing in their market and they felt superior.

    If you have a Taylor novel languishing on your shelf perhaps we can have a read-along at some point!

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  9. My first Elizabeth Taylor novels is finally in the tbr pile! This sounds like a marvelous biography.

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  10. Thanks for the spoiler alert. I started reading A Very Great Profession a couple of months ago but had to stop because it also included spoilers for several Persephones -- hopefully I've forgotten them. I've only read one Elizabeth Taylor novel so far, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, and I just loved it. I'll have to read this biography but I'm going to have to wait until I read more of her novels. Great review!

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  11. JoAnn, And you're going to keep me in suspense as to which title it is!?

    Karen, I've only seen the movie, who can resist Joan Plowright? I have heard you need to have a tissue handy in a few spots while reading Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont.

    And I am really looking forward to reading A Very Great Profession which is also on my shelf. Beauman writes non-fiction just the way I like it!

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  12. No, I won't keep you in suspense. It's A Game of Hide and Seek ;-)

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  13. Isn't it amazing that she wrote such remarkable books as she did and she did it while raising a family and taking care of a home! Sort of like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire--she had to do all the dancing backwards! :) I have this book and want to read it, but I want to try and read more of her fiction first for just the reason you give--I don't want the endings of books spoiled before reading them. Glad to hear you enjoyed this--it will have to serve as a gentle prod for me to pick up something by her soon!

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  14. I had never heard of this Elizabeth Taylor before! Which of her books would be a good introduction to her style?

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  15. girlswannaread, Hi there and welcome! A Game of Hide and Seek is a wonderful place to start. The beauty of Taylor is in the writing so take your time to settle in and then just enjoy. I really hope you give her a try!

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  16. I bought this book recently as a result of reading about it in blogdom. I'm desperate to start it, but having read your warning about the spoilers, I think I'd better wait and read some more of the books! I've loved THIS Elizabeth Taylor for many years and am so glad that she's getting more recognition now. What a hateful group, to be so horrible about her! I'm glad she was a friend of Barbara Pym, whom I adore!

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  17. What a lovely review, Darlene - I especially loved this sentence: " In fact, twice my eyes stung with tears, not at any particularly poignant moment but from the sheer bliss of a fabulous read." I loved this book too, mostly because it was done so affectionately.

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