Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor

'I am a bad mother', she once more told herself and fought back the feelings of shame and oppression which assailed her at this admission.  'When I have finished this book I will never write another word.  I'll devote myself to Stevie, get Prue married somehow, turn Robert's shirt-cuffs, have the hall re-papered.'

Beth Cazabon shouldn't feel so guilty.  If she stopped daydreaming about scenes for her latest book she would twig that her husband is having an affair with her best friend and neighbour.  She spends almost as much time peeking from behind the curtains as the other villagers but she is blind to this particular deceit.  Even the sweeping lamp atop the lighthouse acts as an eye, surveying all that goes on amidst the damp streets and neat houses in Newby.

Having a keen eye for observation herself, Elizabeth Taylor brilliantly evokes the mood of a claustrophobic community.  Even Bertram Hemingway, a retired naval officer and recent resident, notices how often Tory, elegant and divourced, quick steps back and forth between the Cazabons' and her own front door.  With his gallant offers to buy various women drinks at the pub or escort them home safely he soon becomes a favourite with Lily Wilson who has the creepy occupation of running the Waxworks Exhibition.  The latest attraction being the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who would be aghast to know that cast-off clothing and paraphernalia will constitute part of the wardrobe on their waxy frames.

While Beth may be oblivious to her husband's affair their twenty year-old daughter, Prudence is not.  Her inability to broach the subject with her mother means showing up red-faced with shame at Tory's front door when, as the village doctor, her father's services are required.  Struggling herself with the idea of being on the cusp of womanhood Prudence spends a considerable amount of each day boiling offal for the cats' dinner and enjoying the sensation of their fur against her bare skin at night.  Barely able to express herself, even the howling winds that blow in from the sea steal the words from her mouth at times.  There is also a younger daughter, Stevie, 'the fifteen years between Prudence and Stevie, suggested that they were haphazardly conceived' who screams when she doesn't get her own way and acts quite silly causing no end of  frustration for her impatient father.  I love it!   

Elizabeth Taylor's also drops in some fabulously comic moments when you least expect them.  Towards the end of the book I found a scene reminiscent of something from Catherine Tate's collection of characters and it made me laugh out loud.  After hours and hours of concocting death scenes and funeral services for a character in her book, Beth is frozen with fear at the thought of having to attend a service for one of the villagers.  'But, Robert, I couldn't!  I have never been to a funeral in my life.  I shouldn't know what to do.  I should hate it.  Oh, hate it!' 

Most of the time A View of the Harbour is quite subtle, its characters go about their business and the reader bears witness.  But Elizabeth Taylor brilliantly illustrates that regardless of how banal or tedious our day-to-day lives may seem, a profusion of thoughts and emotions keeps us constantly engaged even when we are silent or solitary.  A zinger of a last paragraph left me wishing there was a sequel.  My highest praise is reserved for Taylor's later novels but I quite enjoyed the time I spent reading this book and most definitely recommend it.

16 comments:

  1. Oh I absolutely loved this book. I reread it at the beginning of the year and was so glad I did!

    K x

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  2. Your recommendation is good enough for me! I've pulled it off the TBR bookshelves! :o) Great review!

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  3. I recently read The Sleeping Beauty - my first Elizabeth Tayor - which I thoroughly enjoyed, and now I'm searching for more of her work, so I was interested to read your review. What I read next depends on which (if any!) of her novels are in stock at my local library.

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  4. My copy is waiting on my bedside table, and you have insipred me to read as soon as I can. Thank you!

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  5. Superb review, Darlene, and thank you for linking to it on the Elizabeth Taylor Centenary page. I read this book ages ago, and I'm now rushing back to re-read some of your references. Glad you enjoyed, and hope to see you at next month's read.

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  6. I collected some of her novels (in the Green Viragos!) years and years ago but I never read this one. There's nothing nicer than reading a review like yours, immediately adding the book to your list, and then finding that you don't even have to go to the library in search of it1

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  7. kristina, At first I felt sad about each Taylor novel struck off of my tbr list but lately I've been feeling that rereads can only be an even richer experience. Lovely to hear from you!

    Penny, Oh good, hope you enjoy it!

    CrissCross, Welcome and thanks for stopping by! The Sleeping Beauty arrived at my house last month so I'm looking forward to it. My library carries Mrs Palfrey and that's it so you are lucky!

    Mystica, Greetings!

    FleurFisher, I am so pleased about your recent job offer! All the best to you and I hope you enjoy A View of the Harbour once you get to it.

    Laura, Oh thank you and yes, I will be at Simon's for the discussion with bells on!

    Audrey, Isn't that the best?! My Taylor collection is a mish mash of new and old but I own three copies of A Game of Hide and Seek. They just can't be passed up!

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  8. I am squinting and not reading this yet, because I need to read the book myself smartish - but thanks for contributing to the month I am supposed to be hosting (oops) and I will link back to this eventually!

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  9. I finally read my first Elizabeth Taylor (At Mrs Lippincote's) last week and though I'm rather indifferent to the book as a whole, I was definitely intrigued by Taylor's style and am looking forward to reading more of her work. Thanks to your lovely review, I think this is the one I'll move on to next!

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  10. StuckInABook, It's a hive of activity over on your blog lately! Looking forward to the discussion whenever you're able to roll it out.

    Claire, Taylor may not be your cup of tea but thanks for giving her a try. There is a rather creepy fellow in A Wreath of Roses who had me holding my breath a few times so perhaps that title would appeal more? A bit of the dark side!

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  11. Another review to pique my interest in Elizabeth Taylor's books. I will get to them soon. Right now I am reading "Old Filth" by Jane Gardam and "Restless" by William Boyd. I loved "Old Filth" and have also read the sequel "The Man in the Wooden Hat." So many good books out there...Thanks for your review.

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  12. Sunday Taylor, Jane Gardam's books always grab my attention when I see them but so far a bookcase of other reads takes centre stage. You're so right...there are certainly enough good books out there to keep us entertained for many years to come!

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  13. I read this a couple of years ago and I'd forgotten some of the detail so your post prompted my memory. I liked this one.

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  14. Vintage Reading, I'm counting on forgetting some of the details so I can enjoy it all over again one day. Lovely to hear from you, hope you're having as gorgeous a day as we are here...a high of 15C expected!

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  15. I loved this - it's just so perceptive isn't it? And so intelligent. Elizabeth Taylor blows me away every time. To think she spent her life hidden away in a little village and was 'just' a wife and mother with no real education and yet managed to produce novels like this...it takes my breath away.

    How creepy was Prudence though?!

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