Spending the holiday with friends, as she has for many years, Camilla finds that their private absorptions - Frances with her painting and Liz with her baby - seem to exclude her from the gossipy intimacies of previous summers. Anxious that she will remain encased in her solitary life as a school secretary, Camilla steps into an unlikesly liaison with Richard Elton, a handsome, assured - and dangerous - liar.
A Wreath Of Roses (VMC)
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Elizabeth Taylor's darkest novel . . . She writes with a sensuous richness of language that draws the reader down the most shadowy paths . . . Extremely beguiling. Taylor makes the living moment present, touchable, disturbing, enchanting (Helen Dunmore )
Taylor is a fearsome writer, ruthless in her examination of solitude, and a sparkling chronicler of ordinary lives (DAILY TELEGRAPH )
Taylor is a fearsome writer, ruthless in her examination of solitude, and a sparkling chronicler of ordinary lives (DAILY TELEGRAPH )
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*Elizabeth Taylor is one of the most acclaimed 20th century writers
*With a new introduction by Helen Dunmore
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By booksetc
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
A strange and chilling novel by Elizabeth Taylor, very different from any of her others: 'Beauty and corruption touch us - at the same time, in the same place ...always the two going hand in hand.'
Camilla is a gauche spinster, on the brink of middle age, who started life on the wrong footing and never got going, never launched herself into love or marriage. Her friend Liz - who allows herself second chances at what she doesn't get right first time - is shakily married to a slightly pompous vicar, but their relationship steadies itself; it isn't perfect, but grows more solid as an institution. The two women are on a week's holiday staying with Liz's old governess.
Desperate for something to happen to her, Camilla begins an incongruous liaison with the only man on the horizon, a handsome liar with empty eyes who is staying seemingly aimlessly in a local hotel ... And the ending is more chilling than anything I could have expected from Elizabeth Taylor.
Camilla is a gauche spinster, on the brink of middle age, who started life on the wrong footing and never got going, never launched herself into love or marriage. Her friend Liz - who allows herself second chances at what she doesn't get right first time - is shakily married to a slightly pompous vicar, but their relationship steadies itself; it isn't perfect, but grows more solid as an institution. The two women are on a week's holiday staying with Liz's old governess.
Desperate for something to happen to her, Camilla begins an incongruous liaison with the only man on the horizon, a handsome liar with empty eyes who is staying seemingly aimlessly in a local hotel ... And the ending is more chilling than anything I could have expected from Elizabeth Taylor.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Susie B
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
First published in 1949, Elizabeth Taylor's 'A Wreath of Roses' is the tale of three women: Camilla, Liz and Frances. The story focuses mainly on Camilla, an unmarried school secretary with her youth behind her, worrying that life is passing her by. The novel is set in an English village during a blisteringly hot summer where Camilla and Liz, an old school friend, spend a month in the country in the home of Frances, Liz's ex-governess. Liz, married to a vicar, has recently given birth to their first son and is finding married life and motherhood somewhat different to how she had imagined. Frances, having given up teaching is now indulging in her passion for art and when she is not painting in her garden studio, she spends her time playing her piano with gusto and abandonment. With both Liz and Frances taken up with their own private lives and worries, Camilla feels excluded and lonely, so when a rather good looking but dangerous and duplicitous man, Richard Elton, takes an interest in Camilla, she finds herself responding to him in a way that she would not have thought possible.
'A Wreath of Roses' is considered to be Elizabeth Taylor's darkest book; amongst its themes are loneliness, self deception, mental suffering, fear and death, and Taylor writes sensitively and knowledgeably about these. As commented in a previous review of mine, Elizabeth Taylor uses language with a subtle sensuality and writes with compassion and with perceptive wit. Taylor is often compared to Jane Austen, and those who enjoy reading her novels will understand the comparison, but I think she should be enjoyed for her own considerable merits.... Read more ›
'A Wreath of Roses' is considered to be Elizabeth Taylor's darkest book; amongst its themes are loneliness, self deception, mental suffering, fear and death, and Taylor writes sensitively and knowledgeably about these. As commented in a previous review of mine, Elizabeth Taylor uses language with a subtle sensuality and writes with compassion and with perceptive wit. Taylor is often compared to Jane Austen, and those who enjoy reading her novels will understand the comparison, but I think she should be enjoyed for her own considerable merits.... Read more ›
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Perhaps the best place to start when discussing a novel by Elizabeth Taylor is with the prose: it has a beautiful flowing silkiness and every word sits comfortably within its sentence, and every sentence fits smoothly into its paragraph. Taylor's prose is deceptively light but beneath the surface elegance it has real bite. Although her subject matter is quite different at times reading A Wreath of Roses I was reminded of Daphne du Maurier. Both authors were blessed with a prose style that purred like a contented, well-fed Persian Blue. Talent will get you so far but beyond that you need a touch of genius; both du Maurier and Taylor were definitely so blessed but whereas du Maurier tended to look outwards at large and often slightly surreal themes (time travel, and the desire to escape from the dreariness of being yourself day after day, in The House on the Strand for example) Taylor looks inwards at the emotions that bubble beneath the surface of tranquil-looking and apparently unremarkable lives.
A Wreath of Roses tells the story of Camilla who believes love and the chance of happiness have passed her by, and two of her friends - Liz, who is married but perhaps not happily so, and Frances, an artist whose work has effectively become her life. Camilla and Liz spend a few weeks over summer in Frances's house, observing, talking, quietly analysing each other's lives and measuring the happiness of their friends and acquaintances against their own situations. Into this frothily fermenting female atmosphere comes Richard Elton - charismatic, charming but with a definite edge, a hint of the brutal and unpleasant.... Read more ›
A Wreath of Roses tells the story of Camilla who believes love and the chance of happiness have passed her by, and two of her friends - Liz, who is married but perhaps not happily so, and Frances, an artist whose work has effectively become her life. Camilla and Liz spend a few weeks over summer in Frances's house, observing, talking, quietly analysing each other's lives and measuring the happiness of their friends and acquaintances against their own situations. Into this frothily fermenting female atmosphere comes Richard Elton - charismatic, charming but with a definite edge, a hint of the brutal and unpleasant.... Read more ›
Format:Paperback
This early novel firmly positions Elizabeth Taylor in the very front rank. Set in Oxfordshire, within sight of the Wittenham Clumps, the descriptions of the countryside along those poplar lined lanes and dozy villages convincingly convey the spirit of place at high summer. The war is just over and three women are having their annual holiday together, following the same pattern as in many years past.
But things are different now. One of the women has married, and just had a baby. Which sets all three reflecting: have they made the correct decision, or might life have taken a better course? The appearance of three men - a clergyman husband, a handsome bachelor, a devoted art collector - each a counterpart with one of the women, stirs the emotional waters. And there are other incidents in the district to propel thoughts along: an unexplained suicide, an unwanted pregnancy in the village.
There are haunting depths to this novel. The narrative keeps sliding easily from the sentimental surface imagery of ripe cornfields, shady churchyard, children running across the market square, to those inner vulnerabilities and measured character assessments constantly playing through the thoughts of Camilla, the main figure, who has reached a crossroads.
There is much to savour in this superbly crafted novel, so much to admire: the descriptive qualities ("gold dust" drifts upward in sunshine; the clanging bell on a Methodist chapel "nags"; poplars cast "bands of shadow" across gravel roads), the psychological sophistication, the extraordinarily good writing. The sexual undercurrent between Camilla and her suitor is extremely well-handled, especially in conveying the predatory thoughts of that handsome bachelor. And nothing prepares you for the conclusion.... Read more ›
But things are different now. One of the women has married, and just had a baby. Which sets all three reflecting: have they made the correct decision, or might life have taken a better course? The appearance of three men - a clergyman husband, a handsome bachelor, a devoted art collector - each a counterpart with one of the women, stirs the emotional waters. And there are other incidents in the district to propel thoughts along: an unexplained suicide, an unwanted pregnancy in the village.
There are haunting depths to this novel. The narrative keeps sliding easily from the sentimental surface imagery of ripe cornfields, shady churchyard, children running across the market square, to those inner vulnerabilities and measured character assessments constantly playing through the thoughts of Camilla, the main figure, who has reached a crossroads.
There is much to savour in this superbly crafted novel, so much to admire: the descriptive qualities ("gold dust" drifts upward in sunshine; the clanging bell on a Methodist chapel "nags"; poplars cast "bands of shadow" across gravel roads), the psychological sophistication, the extraordinarily good writing. The sexual undercurrent between Camilla and her suitor is extremely well-handled, especially in conveying the predatory thoughts of that handsome bachelor. And nothing prepares you for the conclusion.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read
For everybody who loves a good descriptive novel. A beautiful read and like the characters in the book gives you the sense of the end of an era.
Published 6 months ago by StitchWitch
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling
A strange and chilling novel by Elizabeth Taylor, very different from any of her others: 'Beauty and corruption touch us - at the same time, in the same place ... Read more
Published on 30 July 2009 by booksetc
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