5/9/2023 0 Comments Mrs claremontIf the comparison with Cheever breaks down almost as soon as it is made, that is indicative of the larger point - which may also be a smaller point - that there can be no American equivalent of a writer defined so thoroughly by her Englishness. (The unfortunate name didn’t help - doubly unfortunate since Betty Coles chose to use her married name as her pen name.) She became known for being less known than she deserved. When Taylor died, the sense of there being something middling about both her brow and status subsided into a kind of well-disposed neglect. But Cheever’s collected stories became a monumental success and our awareness of him was heightened by the posthumous evidence of delirium (tremens), torment and wreckage. John Cheever is a good fit chronologically (both were born in 1912 Taylor predeceased him by seven years in 1975) and thematically: domestic life in the suburbs and countryside, booze, stifled desire. So, as a way of identifying the signature qualities of the English writer Elizabeth Taylor, we’ll begin by asking which American writer she most closely resembles. It’s possible to make a point by missing the point, to show the way by heading in a misleading direction. MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT By Elizabeth Taylor
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