![]() ![]() Together, upper lips stiffened, they fight off their twin enemies: boredom and the Grim Reaper. Her fellow residents are magnificently eccentric and endlessly curious, living off crumbs of affection and snippets of gossip. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor lizsmithtrailingspouse On the surface, this seems a straightforward story about an elderly widow Mrs Palfrey who moves into The Claremont Hotel as a long-term resident. ![]() On a rainy Sunday in January, the recently widowed Mrs Palfrey arrives at the Claremont Hotel where she will spend her remaining days. Their daughter Prudence is aware, however, and is appalled by the treachery she observes. In the faded coastal village of Newby, everyone looks out for - and in on - each other, and beneath the deceptively sleepy exterior, passions run high.Beautiful divorcee Tory is painfully involved with her neighbour, Robert, while his wife Beth, Tory's best friend, is consumed by the worlds she creates in her novels, oblivious to the relationship developing next door. 'Angelica Deverell is too good a name to be true. ![]() ![]() But they are curious as to who could have written such a book: 'Some old lady, romanticising behind lace-curtains'. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor, introduction by Michael Hofmann / ISBN 9781681375649 / 193-page paperback from New York Review of Books. After reading The Lady Irania, publishers Brace and Gilchrist are certain the novel will be a success, in spite of - and perhaps because of - its overblown style. ![]()
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