JUST PUBLISHED FOR 2014: BELATED AND OTHER STORIES
Whether examining the unspoken deals brokered in every marriage, the inherent menace of daily exchanges or the secret lives of the unattached, each of these sixteen stories sparkles with Elisabeth Russell Taylor’s extraordinary talent. ‘The Contract’ brilliantly reimagines Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin; ‘Charlotte’ looks at the life of a Jewish immigrant in postwar London; ‘Les Amants’ is a lyrical paean to love and loss in rural France; and ‘The Inquest’ is a whimsical feat of magical realism. Here is a writer unafraid to probe the dark corners of character, who sharpens her teeth on the casual cruelties, subtle ironies and alarming contradictions of everyday life.
‘Taylor relates these 16 tales of human fallibility with the dispassionate eye of someone who’s not only seen it all but can also write about it frighteningly well … This is the work of a mature author, whose prolific output has sharpened her talents, and her insight into human beings, to a fine point’
Alastair Mabbott, SCOTTISH HERALD
‘Readers will be mesmerized by the haunting, poetic writing … [and] savor this exceptional collection of tales … Pensive and luminous’ KIRKUS REVIEWS
‘A dark, enigmatic collection … What is not revealed in these tales is as dramatic as what is, with Taylor hinting at different and tantalizing narrative possibilities. These tales of longing, jealousy, and loss reveal the discomfiting effects of love on the mind, soul, and body’ PUBLISHERS’ WEEKLY SELECT
‘The way in which she presents intricate slices of the everyday is reminiscent of the fabulous Alice Munro. The sheer scope of the tales show just how good an author she is, and one cannot help but think that she could deftly turn her hand to writing anything she pleased … Russell Taylor’s writing is stunning, and the details which she describes are often startling … a marvellous collection of short stories’ Kirsty Hewitt, BOOK HUGGER
‘Belated examines unspoken yearnings within couples, the secret lives of the solitary and the menace that lurks in everyday exchanges, brilliantly capturing unnerving cruelties, compromises and contradictions in daily life’ BOOKANISTA
You can read an extract here.
Elisabeth Russell Taylor 