I have been looking forward to reading something by Elizabeth Taylor for some time now. I had a feeling that I would like her writing, and I was correct. I really enjoyed The Sleeping Beauty, which is "a love story of middle age". From what I have read Taylor seems to have been more domestic than part of the literati. She wrote her books while raising her family. She wrote about middle class people, but in a variety of situations.
"Her books are pleasing to read, and much taken from libraries; they are undogmatic, unpretentious, clear and kind. But they are also more than this: quick-eyed and wonderfully funny investigations into the loves and loneliness of people's lives."
The Sleeping Beauty is set in a seaside town called Seething. Seething is an apt name for this town, as there is more to it than what you see on the surface. It has a nice respectable veneer. It is the 1950s and everything seems so proper. But what is underneath turns out to be very surprising. Vinny has come to help console a friend, Isabella, whose husband has just died. One night he spots a beautiful woman walking on the beach and essentially falls in love. There are actually several story lines going, but all lead back to Vinny and his romance with Emily. Emily lives a very secluded life. There is some suggestion of troubles in her past that have caused her to shy away from people--hence our sleeping beauty. She lives with her sister, who runs a hotel, and her niece.
I'm never quite sure how much of the plot to give away--there are so many surprising things about this book I could talk about, but I generally prefer discovering things on my own and would rather not give away details to other readers. Taylor's writing is yet another example of a story with not a lot of action, but she has wonderfully well drawn characters. They all have breadth and depth. One of my favorite characters is Vinny's mother, Mrs. Tumulty. She's the perfect stereotypical idea of the interfering mother, made even worse since Vinny is middle-aged and she is constantly on his case about one thing or another. He gets her to come to Seething on a bit of a ruse--a vacation, to give his continued stays in the local hotel legitimacy even though he wants only to be close to Emily. Mrs. Tumulty has this very officious manner that you sort of love to dislike. There were times when I was reading that something a character would say or a situation would make me nearly laugh out loud, which is not to say it is not a serious story, but it was all so well drawn--these people could be real. And like real people, their foibles and faults evoke a variety of emotions and responses. I was amused by the fact that some of the characters who seemed so very respectable on the outside, spent time betting on the horses, though they never seemed to want to admit to it. As a matter of fact they would disdain the very activity that they would engage in in private. It was all so typical of how people really are, which is what made me thoroughly enjoy this novel.
Part of the impetus for reading this particular Taylor novel was Dorothy's wonderful post on it last year. She kindly let me mooch both books she wrote about. I have several more of Taylor's novels, and I plan on reading more of her work. Sarah Waters called her "one of the great under-read British novelists of the twentieth century". I know I am happy to have discovered her!