At Mrs Lippincote's: 278 (Virago Modern Classics)

by Valerie Martin (Introduction), Elizabeth Taylor (Author), Elizabeth Taylor (Author), Valerie Martin (Introduction)

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Mrs Lippincote's house, with its mahogany furniture and yellowing photographs, stands as a reminder of all the certainties that have vanished with the advent of war. Temporarily, this is home for Julia, who has joined her husband Roddy at the behest of the RAF. Although she can accept the pomposities of service life, Julia's honesty and sense of humour prevent her from taking her role as seriously as her husband, that leader of men, might wish; for Roddy, merely love cannot suffice - he needs homage as well as admiration. And Julia, while she may be a most unsatisfactory officer's wife, is certainly no hypocrite.

Synopsis

Mrs Lippincote's house, with its mahogany furniture and yellowing photographs, stands as a reminder of all the certainties that have vanished with the advent of war. Temporarily, this is home for Julia, who has joined her husband Roddy at the behest of the RAF. Although she can accept the pomposities of service life, Julia's honesty and sense of humour prevent her from taking her role as seriously as her husband, that leader of men, might wish; for Roddy, merely love cannot suffice - he needs homage as well as admiration. And Julia, while she may be a most unsatisfactory officer's wife, is certainly no hypocrite.

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More Information

Format: paperback
Publisher: Virago
Published:
ISBN 10: 1844083098
ISBN 13: 9781844083091
Book Overview: A wonderful novel from one of Britain's most acclaimed twentieth century novelists, At Mrs Lippincote's explores the hypocrisies and evasions inherent in marriage

Media Reviews

Subtle, stylised, and rather special social comedy * Kirkus *
Witty, hilarious, astringent, devastating - her impeccable style can do anything and with such seemingly effortless ease -- Neel Mukherjee
Elizabeth Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: an author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth -- Sarah Waters
Always intelligent, often subversive and never dull, Elizabeth Taylor is the thinking person's dangerous housewife. Her sophisticated prose combines elegance, icy wit and freshness in a stimulating cocktail - the perfect toast to the quiet horror of domestic life -- Valerie Martin
Taylor is one of the hidden treasures of the English novel -- Philip Hensher * Daily Telegraph *
Her best novels - At Mrs. Lippincote's (1945), A View of the Harbour (1947), A Game of Hide and Seek (1951) - are, in spite of their prim titles, funny, savage and full of loneliness and suppressed emotion. For her characters, as for their author, propriety is a survival mechanism, a way of keeping the show on the road -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *

Author Bio

Elizabeth Taylor (1912-1975) is increasingly recognised as one of the best British writers of the twentieth century. She wrote her first book, At Mrs Lippincote's, during the war while her husband was in the Royal Air Force, and this was followed by eleven further novels and a children's book, Mossy Trotter. Her acclaimed short stories appeared in publications including Vogue, the New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar. Valerie Martin is the author of two collections of short fiction, seven novels, and a biography of St. Francis of Assisi, SALVATION.