Introduced by Neel Mukherjee

'All her writings could be described as coming into the category of comedy. Comedy is the best vehicle for truths that are too fierce to be borne' Anita Brookner

'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. As a result, Taylor excels in conveying the tragicomic poignancy of the everyday' Daily Telegraph

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. Strange secrets abound in the ramshackle house. But conventions are subverted in this atmospheric novel: one of its worlds is suffused with classical scholarship and literary romance, but the other is chaotic, quarrelsome and even farcical. Cassandra is to discover that in real life, tragedy, comedy and acute embarrassment are never far apart.