Elizabeth Taylor (née Coles; 3 July 1912 – 19 November 1975) was an English novelist and short-story writer. Kingsley Amis described her as “one of the best English novelists born in this century”. Antonia Fraser called her “one of the most underrated writers of the 20th century”, while Hilary Mantel said she was “deft, accomplished and somewhat underrated”. Her 1971 novel Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont was shortlisted for The Booker Prize.
Books in order of publication:
Novels
At Mrs. Lippincote’s (1945)
Palladian (1946) shows most clearly the influence of Jane Austen.
A View of the Harbour (1947)
A Wreath of Roses (1949)
A Game of Hide and Seek (1951)
The Sleeping Beauty (1953)
Angel (1957)
In a Summer Season (1961)
The Soul of Kindness (1964)
The Wedding Group (1968)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (1971).
Blaming (1976), posthumous.
Short story collections
Hester Lilly (1954)
The Blush and Other Stories (1958)
A Dedicated Man and Other Stories (1965)
The Devastating Boys (1972). Includes “Sisters” and “Flesh”
Dangerous Calm (1995). A selection of her stories and two previously unpublished short stories
Complete Short Stories (2012). Collects all of the works in the first five short story collections
Elizabeth Taylor: A Centenary Celebration (2012). Short stories uncollected in “Complete Short Stories” including unpublished and incomplete stories, and essays and letters
You’ll Enjoy It When You Get There: The Stories of Elizabeth Taylor (2014).
Children’s book
Mossy Trotter (1967)
