A review by nohoperadio
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor

4.0

The little seaside village which, unless I’m forgetting something, the narration doesn’t leave for a single page, makes for a very claustrophobic setting. Most of the cast (which is quite large and with screentime so equitably allocated that no character or group can really be called “main”, as seems to be Taylor’s way) live half in the shadow of hypothetical versions of themselves that live not here. Which is not to say they have particular dreams or even fantasies for the most part.

This collection of sad funny lives add up to a bit of a jumble, they don’t suddenly cohere into semi-resolution at the climax like in The Soul of Kindness, which feels intentional but is still less satisfying.