or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
35 used & new from £2.25
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Angel (Virago Modern Classics)
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Angel (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Elizabeth Taylor (Author), Hilary Mantel (Introduction)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.72 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £3.27 (36%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, November 18? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from £3.57 13 used from £2.25
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (New Ed) 2 used & new from £15.00
Paperback (Film tie-in edition) £7.99 £7.99 24 used & new from £3.04
Hardcover (Large Print) 4 used & new from £18.40
Audio Cassette (Audiobook,Unabridged) Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Angel (Virago Modern Classics) + At Mrs Lippincote's (Virago Modern Classics) + In a Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics)
Price For All Three: £15.68

Show availability and delivery details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

At Mrs Lippincote's (Virago Modern Classics)

At Mrs Lippincote's (Virago Modern Classics)

by Elizabeth Taylor
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £4.98
Blaming (Virago Modern Classics)

Blaming (Virago Modern Classics)

by Elizabeth Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £5.73
In a Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics)

In a Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics)

by Elizabeth Taylor
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £4.98
A View of the Harbour (Virago Modern Classics)

A View of the Harbour (Virago Modern Classics)

by Elizabeth Taylor
3.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £5.46
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (Virago Modern Classics)

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (Virago Modern Classics)

by Elizabeth Taylor
4.7 out of 5 stars (6)  £4.94
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Virago Press Ltd; New edition edition (6 April 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1844083071
  • ISBN-13: 978-1844083077
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 108,054 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #21 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Mantel, Hilary

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

'Jane Austen, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Bowen - soul-sisters all' Anne Tyler 'One of the most underrated novelists of the twentieth century' Antonia Fraser 'I envy those readers who are coming to her work for the first time. Theirs will be an unexpected pleasure' Paul Bailey 'Her stories remain with one, indelibly, as though they had been some turning point in one's own experience' Elizabeth Bowen 'Quietly and devatatingly amusing' Hilary Mantel 'An excellent novel' Jonathan Keates, Spectator 'A masterpiece' 'Precious and endearing' 'Angel is a brilliant creation with not a seed of irony, self knowledge or humour in her soul . . . I'm not one who re-reads books but I return to this on frequently and every time it makes me envious - and it makes me laugh and cry. You can't ask for much more from a novel than that' Lesley Glaister, Guardian 'A brilliant exposition of the effects of self-delusion, this novel is as sad on one page as it is funny on the next' Publishers Weekly 'Taylor has an eye as sharply all-seeing as her prose-style is elegant - even the humdrum becomes astonishing' Daily Telegraph


Lesley Glaister, Guardian

'A masterpiece . . . Angel is a brilliant creation'
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
virago

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Angel (Virago Modern Classics)
75% buy the item featured on this page:
Angel (Virago Modern Classics) 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
£5.72
At Mrs Lippincote's (Virago Modern Classics)
9% buy
At Mrs Lippincote's (Virago Modern Classics) 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£4.98
In a Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics)
7% buy
In a Summer Season (Virago Modern Classics) 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
£4.98
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (Virago Modern Classics)
5% buy
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (Virago Modern Classics) 4.7 out of 5 stars (6)
£4.94
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark masterpiece..., 29 Jan 2005
By G. Watson (Glasgow, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Angel (Virago modern classics) (Paperback)
Elizabeth Taylor is one of English literature's best kept secrets; her shrewd, observant novels of human frailty have won her a small but devoted readership and 'Angel' is held by many as their favourite of her books.

Spurred on by loneliness and desperation, the young and staunchly determined Angelica Deverell draws on her own naïve perceptions of literature to produce what she thinks are masterpieces. Refusing to believe herself to be anything less than a genius, she disregards her publisher's attempts to restrain her high-flown prose and clumsy syntax and embarks on a starry career as a romantic novelist. Her books are bestsellers - despite being rubbished by critics - and Angel's uncompromisingly high view of herself is vindicated. Her success, however, spells dissatisfaction for those who tolerate her as her behaviour grows more outrageous and inconsiderate.

Elizabeth Taylor charts Angel's spectacular rise and gradual fall with a devastating eye for ironic detail. The intentions, desires and frustrations of Angelica and those around her are conveyed with the lightest touch. The fluctuating line between Angel's astounding arrogance and her unspoken terrified hopes, would, in the hands of a lesser writer have become a farce, or at the very least a satire. Taylor sees all and judges not.

The novel is moving, humane and compelling. Read it.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, Amusing, Light-Hearted Parody of the Publishing World, 3 Jul 2006
By Christina (London) - See all my reviews
  
The life and times of a famous author

This is a lovely book to read on holiday or whilst travelling. It is a light-hearted dig at authors, readers, publishers and most vitriolically, of critics. Elizabeth Taylor is a fine writer with an exquisite turn of self-deprecation and devastating humour. You have the sense Taylor is either writing about herself or is secretly enjoying a joke at another author's expense. Taylor even laughs at the pretentiousness of the art world. Be that as it may, the protagonist, Angel, is completely endearing for all her extreme self-confidence and haughty self-centredness. As an example, in one scene, Angel's fierce Staffordshire bull terrier (_) Sultan, attacks a little Yorkshire terrier (_?) and, in fact, kills it. Rather than apologising to the hapless owner, whose dog it was, Angel frostily tells the owner that she should have kept the dog under control and totters off with as much dignity and pride that she can muster (whilst taking a wrong turning).

As a newly published author, Angel fantasises creating a novel preparing dreadful humiliations and a painful death for one of her critics. What writer has not had that fantasy!? In all, it is excruciatingly funny. It is set in the early part of C20 and has an air of nostalgia and ruefulness that brings to mind the style of Jane Gardam in her recent book, _Old Filth_.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book. Elizabeth Taylor has an economically light way of writing that is at the same time both incisive and cruel, but yet charming - and thoroughly enjoyable!




Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A truly horrible heroine, 16 Jan 2008
By Helenbookworm (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
After reading several recommendations for Elizabeth Taylor books I decided to give Angel a go. This is the story of an arrogant young girl who lives in her imagination rather that face up to her dull life living with her mother above a grocers shop. As an escape she starts writing novels and against all odds they are huge success despite their overblown style. Angel clearly thinks that she is one of the most talented authors of her generation but she is widely derided by the critics.

This novel is designed to be darkly funny and there is much humour to be had from Angel's delusions of talent but I did struggled with the fact that the she had no redeeming features at all. Taylor shows a woman who is completely disinterested in the outside world unless it directly affects her. While this is deliberate it means the book has a slightly claustrophobic and narrow feel to it. Most of the characters were a little one dimensional though I did love Marvell the gardener who is a masterpiece. All in all I am glad that I read the book but it will not go down as one of my favourites.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, but worth a look.
i received this book with great anticipation as i'd had it recommended as a wonderful read. however, i was a little disappointed. Read more
Published on 7 Jul 2003 by Dog in a Flat Cap

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject













i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.