{"product_id":"2026200008584-secondhand-the-sleeping-beauty","title":"The Sleeping Beauty","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good to fair. Paperback. Page Condition: Good - possible tanning. Markings: possible previous owner inscription. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA quietly devastating work of mid-century English fiction, The Sleeping Beauty follows Vinnie, a woman whose beauty has long defined her yet left her oddly untouched by the world — a kind of enchanted stillness that draws men into illusions of their own making. Elizabeth Taylor, one of Britain's most underrated postwar novelists, writes with razor-sharp wit and profound psychological insight, illuminating the quiet desperation and social performance at the heart of English provincial life. The novel chronicles a seaside romance that unravels the myths men construct around beautiful, silent women, and the damage those myths inflict on everyone involved. Taylor's prose is elegant and precise, her observations as piercing as they are restrained, placing this work firmly alongside the finest novels of Muriel Spark and Barbara Pym.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48956366487771,"sku":"2026200008584-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/2be82db2-538e-404a-b0e1-1f6ee0e40981.png?v=1783500311","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200008584-secondhand-the-sleeping-beauty","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}