Welcome to Litsy!

Another brilliant book by Elizabeth Taylor. Didn't quite hit me in the feels as other books by her, but it's absolutely masterful.

I loved the beginning of this. Taylor creates a brilliant character you love to hate in Angel Deverell. At age 15, Angel has a bad day at school, takes to her bed, and writes a terrible novel. That the public loves. Once Angel became a rich adult, though, I lost interest. This was an April #Roll100 that I got off my shelf! #nyrb

It‘s as if Miss Havisham moved into Grey Gardens with Big Edie and Little Edie.

#nyrb

Alright #NYRBBookClub friends, here are my choices for May! Thanks to my co-host @GatheringBooks in February & everyone who joined in for the discussion of Katalin Street. Stay tuned for an announcement of discussion date/time for the March selection Turtle Diary co-hosted with @readordierachel

ANGEL. By Elizabeth Taylor. Not much reading time this weekend , On p. 67. As for the book … it‘s completely engaging , MC Angel has written a book .. may well write more … she‘s young & unusual. Set in early 1900‘s…. Angel lives over a shop with her mum .. all is drab … Angel has a wild imagination though .. great writing & story

Angel. My second book by this author. The writing & the story have me caught in from the beginning… so very good.
Rain lots of rain here. Time for a glass 🍷 & a good story ….

In the span of two months, I read 3 books with Angel as the character‘s name. Coincidence?
😇Angelica Deverell - Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
😇Angiolina Zarri - As A Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo
😇Angelique Marie - The Dream by Emile Zola

4⭐️ Unlike her name, Angel is a despicable character. Trapped in her own imagination, she is oblivious to the life that goes on about her; and yet, she becomes that successful bad writer the society loves and hates.

This is my favorite Taylor so far. For the first time, I feel that her story is complete, with main and minor characters well-observed in her usual meticulous details.

Sunday morning with Angelica

Next!

Well we all know how ordering used books online is a crap shoot. But from @BetterWorldBooks books I expected better. I ordered some Elizabeth Taylor books that I didn't have, but I got a big disappointment. They weren't the editions that I ordered. And the condition of one of them did not match the description at all.

Now this makes me even more reluctant to order used books on line.

Our protagonist is a lower-middle-class girl who suddenly decides that her vocation is to become a novelist. Totally devoid of either talent or self-doubt she becomes a literary sensation, whose books are ridiculed by the critics but devoured by her fans. Angel is a monster of selfishness, completely lacking in humour or self-awareness, and yet we are somehow made to care for her despite everything. This is a deliciously funny book.

#readingwomenmonth #booksaboutbooks
I've gone with two, Angel is a brilliantly comic story about a woman who writes books with no literary merit but hugely popular, i loved it and would recommend. The muriel spark is sat waiting to read about a would be novelist whose work is stolen by her boss.

The #riotgrams today is favorite villain. Angel is the villain in her own story. A terrible novelist who can never figure out why no one can stand her, throughout the story she slowly ruins the lives of all those around her. This book is really well written and surprisingly fun to read.

I'm enjoying this so much. Angel is detestable, deluded and terrible but absolutely fascinating. Taylor has created a monster and I can't get enough of it. And this edition is beautiful.

Check out this bookcase @Amyegia got me for my birthday. It's the perfect size for my NYRB Classics, my 60s Signet Classics, my Sf Masterworks, and my @Melvillehouse Art of the Novellas.
(Also pictured, Tolkien, and @Amyegia 's very impressive Muriel Spark collection.)

"Yet she still felt something obdurate in herself, even in her state of frailty and defeat. It was hard, physical pain in her breast, which might have been indigestion, but was vanity."