{"product_id":"angel-9781590174975","title":"Angel","description":"\u003cb\u003eA darkly witty classic about literary worth, ambition, and romantic idealism set in turn-of-the-century England, with an introduction from Hilary Mantel (\u003ci\u003eWolf Hall\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"A delicious satire on the career of schoolgirl sensation Angelica Deverell. She's a truly magnificent comic creation: petulant, paranoid and frighteningly prolific.\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Angelica Deverell lives above her diligent, drab mother's grocery shop in a dreary turn-of-the-century English neighborhood, but spends her days dreaming of handsome Paradise House, where her aunt is enthroned as a maid. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But in Angel's imagination, she is the mistress of the house, a realm of lavish opulence, of evening gowns and peacocks. Then she begins to write popular novels, and this fantasy becomes her life. And now that she has tasted success, Angel has no intention of letting anyone stand in her way--except, perhaps, herself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now back in print after 20 years, this under-recognized classic is (unlike Angel's own novels) self-aware, funny, and subtly layered. It both sharply satirizes its protagonist and acknowledges the intensity of her imagination and the rigor of her work, all the while seeing her as fully human, complicated, and even sympathetic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eElizabeth Taylor (1912-1975)\u003c\/b\u003e was born into a middle class family in Berkshire, England. She held a variety of positions, including librarian and governess, before marrying a businessman in 1936. Nine years later, her first novel, \u003ci\u003eAt Mrs. Lippincote's\u003c\/i\u003e, appeared. She would go on to publish eleven more novels, including \u003ci\u003eA Game of Hide and Seek \u003c\/i\u003e(available as an NYRB Classic), four collections of short stories, and a children's book, \u003ci\u003eMossy Trotter.\u003c\/i\u003e Long championed by Ivy Compton-Burnett, Barbara Pym, Robert Liddell, Kingsley Amis, and Elizabeth Jane Howard, Taylor's novels and stories have been the basis for a number of films, including \u003ci\u003eMrs. Palfrey at the Claremont\u003c\/i\u003e (2005), starring Joan Plowright, and François Ozon's \u003ci\u003eAngel\u003c\/i\u003e (2007). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHilary Mantel is an English novelist, short-story writer, and critic. Her novel \u003ci\u003eWolf Hall\u003c\/i\u003e won the Man Booker Prize in 2009.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New York Review of Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50357285519634,"sku":"9781590174975","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_af2826ff-1bbb-4d3a-a945-51eaec18a44a.jpg?v=1728322188","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/angel-9781590174975","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}