HESTER LILLY AND 12 SHORT STORIES

by Elizabeth Taylor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 1954

A novella, and twelve shorter pieces, have a subtle expertise, and some brief moments of experience and sudden revelation are refined here with infinite care and occasional compassion. Hester Lilly, in her school uniform- grown out of- and her dead mother's clothes- not quite grown into- is an anxious, awkward adversary in the household of her cousin, Robert, and his clever, supercilious wife- but she serves if only to point up the inadequacy and insecurity of their marriage; Harry, an independent old codger in a home for the blind, is the victim of the charity ""much more pleasant to give than to receive""; Dosie provides an ""oasis of gaiety"" but despair is never far from its surface; Mrs. Miller, who is doomed to discontent by the odious comparisons she insists on making, forces her husband and child to pay for what she lacks; a death- a birth- the consciousness- and sadness- of old age--- this is perhaps the small change of human experience but there are wider intimations. Always one of the most sensitive stylists, sometimes wistful, sometimes wicked, Elizabeth Taylor has an established, admiring following.

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION