{"product_id":"mrs-palfrey-at-the-claremont-9781844083213","title":"Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont\u003c\/i\u003e is, for me, her masterpiece' - Robert McCrum, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e, 'The Best 100 Novels'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth' - SARAH WATERS \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Jane Austen, Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabath Bowen - soul-sisters all' ANNE TYLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a rainy Sunday in January, the recently widowed Mrs Palfrey arrives at the Claremont Hotel where she will spend her remaining days. Her fellow residents are magnificently eccentric and endlessly curious, living off crumbs of affection and snippets of gossip. Together, upper lips stiffened, they fight off their twin enemies: boredom and the Grim Reaper. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThen one day Mrs Palfrey strikes up an unlikely friendship with an impoverished young writer, Ludo, who sees her as inspiration for his novel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Elizabeth Taylor's exquisitely drawn character study of eccentricity in old age is a sharp and witty portrait of genteel postwar English life facing the changes taking shape in the 60s . . . Much of the reader's joy lies in the exquisite subtlety in Taylor's depiction of all the relationships, the sharp brevity of her wit, and the apparently effortless way the plot unfolds' -Robert McCrum \u003ci\u003e'the 100 best novels'\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElizabeth Taylor (1912-1975) is increasingly recognised as one of the best British writers of the twentieth century. She wrote her first book, \u003ci\u003eAt Mrs Lippincote's\u003c\/i\u003e, 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, \u003ci\u003eMossy Trotter\u003c\/i\u003e. Her acclaimed short stories appeared in publications including \u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHarper's Bazaa\u003c\/i\u003er.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Virago Press (UK)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50681572065554,"sku":"9781844083213","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d7650614-95c7-4a17-bfc8-7bbdc3723def.jpg?v=1737241532","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/mrs-palfrey-at-the-claremont-9781844083213","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}