Strange secrets abound in the ramshackle house.

When newly orphaned Cassandra Dashwood arrives as governess to little Sophy, the scene seems set for the archetypal romance between young girl and austere widowed employer. As a result, Taylor excels in conveying the tragicomic poignancy of the everyday’ Daily Telegraph ‘Elizabeth Taylor has an eye as sharply all-seeing as her prose is elegant – even the humdrum becomes astonishing when told in language that always aims for descriptive integrity, without a cliché in sight. Comedy is the best vehicle for truths that are too fierce to be borne’ Anita Brookner

Afghanistan, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Asia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Middle East, Moldova, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Republic of the Congo, Reunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South America, Southeast Asia, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, Virgin Islands (U.S.‘All her writings could be described as coming into the category of comedy.

Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor