A review by annebrooke
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
4.0
This is a gripping novel about the monstrous but magical Angel Deverell. From a young age, Angel is different. She weaves a series of magnificent fantasies around her life and her career as a novelist, and is somehow both larger than life and ultimately destroyed by it. She is the first female protagonist in any novel I've read who is both the heroine of the story, and its villain as well.
I loved it, and I loved her. Even though she's a self-obsessed egotist with no sense of irony or humour, there's just something about how determined she is that kept me glued to the pages. I also loved the way she doesn't try to alter herself to suit the men in her life - they take her as she is, or she has no interest in them. She doesn't know the meaning of the word compromise, and it's partly this which makes her so fascinating a character study.
Yes, the novel goes on slightly too long, but even in this we see how far Angel falls from her previous fame and wealth - and there's a great deal of pathos in that, though she herself would of course never admit it. Even to herself. The ending is very well done indeed.
I loved it, and I loved her. Even though she's a self-obsessed egotist with no sense of irony or humour, there's just something about how determined she is that kept me glued to the pages. I also loved the way she doesn't try to alter herself to suit the men in her life - they take her as she is, or she has no interest in them. She doesn't know the meaning of the word compromise, and it's partly this which makes her so fascinating a character study.
Yes, the novel goes on slightly too long, but even in this we see how far Angel falls from her previous fame and wealth - and there's a great deal of pathos in that, though she herself would of course never admit it. Even to herself. The ending is very well done indeed.