Elizabeth Taylor Reading Project discussion
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A Wreath Of Roses
A Wreath of Roses
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A Wreath of Roses STARTING Thoughts/Discussion Questions
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I started in earnest yesterday. It's very different than the previous books. The bit of the introduction I read says that this is the darkest of Taylor's novels.
Mod
Thanks for including me in this group. I plan to join you this month and read A Wreath of Roses.
Just met Liz's husband. .. I thought of Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice
I'll be starting it next week, looking forward to it.
I read this one a couple of years ago. It wasn't my favourite but I wrote "as always, an interesting keyhole portrait of a vulnerable female main character."
Rosemary wrote: "I read this one a couple of years ago. It wasn't my favourite but I wrote "as always, an interesting keyhole portrait of a vulnerable female main character.""Such a good description. I finished this yesterday, but haven't written my review yet.
I’m starting this rather late because it’s a re-read for me. I have only a vague recollection of it: the central event, and the main character’s desire to make a romantic relationship out of some pretty lousy male material. I recall thinking that Taylor was exploring the way in which a woman (especially a desperate one) might delude herself. I suspect I’m in for quite a few surprises by reading the book in a more focussed way this time around.
Novel EpigraphI’m curious as to what readers think about Taylor’s use of an epigraph from Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. How does it link with and amplify the themes of the novel?
Mod
I’m curious as to what readers think about Taylor’s use of an epigraph from Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. How does it link with and amplify the themes of the novel?"
Hi Canadian,
The quotation from 'The Waves' on the title page presents the reader with an image of a dead wreath tossing on the waves; it also makes the book something of a homage to 'The Waves'; and Elizabeth may have hoped it would have the same importance in her oeuvre as 'The Waves' had in Virginia Woolf's. Quoted from The Other Elizabeth Taylor
Karen wrote: "Canadian wrote: "Novel EpigraphI’m curious as to what readers think about Taylor’s use of an epigraph from Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. How does it link with and amplify the themes of the novel?"
H..."
Thanks for this. It’s a while since I read The Waves, which isn’t the most accessible book. I think I’m going to have to read farther to grasp what Taylor’s getting at.
I currently see the epigraph as an allusion to a lens, a way of seeing—for example, through “rose-coloured glasses”. The Woolf quotation begins: “So terrible was life that I held up shade after shade. Look at life through this, look at life through that . . .” The writer is struggling at finding a way to view life. Life in the raw has to be viewed from a perspective or stance; it is too difficult to view head on, with clear eyes. (I’m only part way through my re-read, but this is the way it looks now.) Camilla’s view is distorted; Frances is trying to remove the scales from her eyes in order to paint with integrity and honesty.
I read the paragraphs about Morland Beddoes at the beginning of chapter 9 to my husband over coffee in the back garden, so vivid, we could see the distrait people on his couch...her prose is so compelling, she captures the quotidian in a quietly masterful manner. Hoping to finish this one this weekend, lost track of it while traveling last few months & finally found it.
Mod
Happy November All ! who will be joining me this month reading A Wreath of Roses ?