Or badness, as the case may be. But they're all used, and therefore reasonably inexpensive, so I don't actually feel too guilty. And they're even all in pretty good condition, so I am pleased with my latest round of Viragos.
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths, Barbara Comyns - "Sophia is 21 years old, carries a newt - Great Warty - around in her pocket and marries - in haste - a young artist called Charles. Swept into the bohemian London of the 30s, she is ill-equipped to cope. She takes up with an aging art critic and learns to repent - at leisure." I've heard some interesting things about this author and want to see for myself what she's like. I'm also wondering what it is with Woolworths? (There used to be Woolworths in Omaha, but they are long gone now). I'm reading The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson right now, and that is a curious story indeed!
Birds Fall Down, Rebecca West - "Through a vivid canvas layered with intrigue, conspiracy and murder, Rebecca West has created a story that is at once a family saga, a political thriller, a philosophical drama and a historical novel." I want to read this for my 1% Well Read Challenge. I had a library copy but thought it would be better to own it as I'm not sure when I'll get to it.
I've decided to buy (and read of course) all of Elizabeth Taylor's novels. I think I am only missing a couple now. Unfortunately Virago doesn't publish all her work, and I have this fear of not finding her books (or if I do they'll be exorbitantly priced like the Ferguson book), if I wait until later.
The Soul of Kindness, Elizabeth Taylor - "The soul of kindness was what Flora believed herself to be, and made almost everyone else believe. Tall, blonde, and as beautiful as a Botticelli girl, she appeared to have everything under control--her household, her baby, her husband Richard; her all-too-loyal friend Meg; Meg's brother Kit, who has always adored Flora; and Patrick, the novelist and domestic pet. Only the painter, Liz, refuses to become a worshipper at the shrine."
Wreath of Roses, Elizabeth Taylor - "Staying with two friends, the pattern of many years, Camilla finds their private absorptions--Liz with her baby, Frances with her painting--somehow exclude her from the gossipy intimacies of previous summers. Poised on the brink of prim middle age, fearing that adventure and love will be denied her, Camilla begins an unlikely liaison with Richard Elton; handsome, assured and a compulsive liar with more than a bogus wartime record to hide. In her desire for escape she inadvertently discovers evil..." (Is it just me or does this one not sound like Taylor's other work?). This is actually not a Virago, just a plain old Penguin, but I'm happy to have it anyway!
The Wedding Group, Elizabeth Taylor - "First published in 1968, this quietly ironic exploration of the ways in which the parental mould is not easily broken, is one of Elizabeth Taylor's most ambitious novels."
Blaming, Elizabeth Taylor - "While on holiday in Istanbul, tragedy strikes, and suddenly the comfortably middle-aged, middle-class Amy is left stranded and a widow. Martha, a young American novelist, kindly 
helps her, but upon their return to England, Amy is ungratefully reluctant to maintain their friendship—on home soil she realizes that in normal circumstances, Martha isn't the sort of person she would be friends with. But guilt is a hard taskmaster, and Martha has a way of getting under one's skin."
The Devastating Boys, Elizabeth Taylor - This is a collection of eleven short stories. "We meet women, children and men, often ostensibly ordinary, who follow their paths of ruthlessness and ambition, each in pursuit of happiness, love, or power--each a classic creation." By the way I love the cover of this book. Isn't it sweet--a happy cata all curled up on a cushy armchair!
I also want to read all of Rosamund Lehmann's work. She doesn't have quite as large an oeuvre as Taylor. I'm starting from scratch with Lehmann. I'm going to begin at the beginning and work my way through her books as she wrote and published them. I've already got Dusty Answer on my night table.
The Weather in the Streets, Rosamund Lehmann - "Taking up where Invitation to the Waltz left off, The Weather in the Streets shows us Olivia Curtis ten years older, a failed marriage behind her, thinner, sadder, and apparently not much wiser. A chance encounter on a train with a man who enchanted her as a teenager leads to a forbidden love affair and a new world of secret meetings, brief phone calls, and snatched liaisons in anonymous hotel rooms. Years ahead of its time when first published, this subtle and powerful novel shocked even the most stalwart Lehmann fans with its searing honesty and passionate portrayal of clandestine love."
The Ballad and the Source, Rosamund Lehmann - "Ten-year-old Rebecca is living in the country with her family when Sibyl Jardine, an enigmatic and powerful old woman, returns to her property in the neighborhood. The two families, once linked in the past, meet again, with the result that Rebecca becomes drawn into the strange complications of the old lady's life—with her husband, her errant daughter, and her grandchildren. Through the spellbound eyes of the young Rebecca we enter into an intricate and scandalous family history and slowly the story of the passionate, stormy life of Mrs. Jardine unfolds."
All I can say is, yum. I so love Virago Press books. Now I want to start reading something by Elizabeth Taylor.