Used book – Noces de faïence, Elizabeth Taylor, Nicole Tisserand

Three characters punctuate this novel in which Elizabeth Taylor gives us an almost photographic vision of England in the early 60s. Cressy, the heroine, a late-blooming teenager rebelling against a religion that was "foisted upon her without her consent" and who, stifled by her grandfather's archaic abuses of power, dreams only of modernity. David, on the cusp of forty, has not yet left his mother's apron strings. A handsome but insipid young man, he will marry Cressy and, with the feeling of finally taking responsibility, will simply exchange one servitude for another. Midge is an abusive, omnipresent mother. Subtle and sympathetic, she resolutely departs from stereotypes. There is nothing quarrelsome about her; rather, she possesses charm, whimsy, and great savoir-faire. A novel from which the reader, thanks to Elizabeth Taylor's magic, will not be able to avoid catching a glimpse of their own life. "'Noces de faïence' is a country outing where it's wise to be wary of flowers and birds. Under Mrs. Taylor's pen, everything becomes a trap. Delicious!" (André Rollin, Le Canard enchaîné)"