Six Novels That Try to Keep Up With Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor first captured my imagination in The VIPs, a film that spoke to me as a young, enchanted teenager. The movie showcased a world that was both glamorous and tumultuous, where life’s dramatic moments could be shaped—or even redeemed—by love. This initial fascination led me to explore Taylor’s career further during my college film studies, while also indulging in the gossip columns that chronicled her personal life.

Critics seemed divided on Taylor, sometimes praising her as a great actress and a beauty, at other times dismissing her as vulgar or a grandiose movie star. Six books delve into this complex legacy, each offering a unique perspective on the enigma of Elizabeth Taylor.

Donald Spoto’s A Passion for Life provides a thorough biography that places Taylor’s achievements in the context of her acting career. Spoto excels at exploring the duality of Taylor’s life, portraying her as both a successful public figure and a woman consumed by her own persona. He examines her marriages not merely as scandalous events but as attempts at reinvention, each new role allowing her to escape the one she had been in since childhood.

While Spoto’s psychological insights may seem overly orderly for a woman who lived with such exuberance, no other biographer captures the essence of Taylor’s multifaceted character as effectively.

Kitty Kelley’s unauthorized biography, Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star, is a more scandalous take on Taylor’s life. Known for its irreverent tone, Kelley focuses on her subject’s appetites—her love for food, men, and conflict. While the book is rife with gossip and often relies on sources eager to settle old scores, it remains a valuable glimpse into the way Taylor was perceived before her later activism and cultural reevaluation.

Published in 1981, Kelley’s work captures a moment in time when Taylor was still the tabloid’s most notorious figure, forever arriving late, overspending, and falling in love. The book’s raw, unfiltered portrayal of Taylor makes it an enjoyable read, despite its limitations as a definitive account.

C. David Heymann’s Liz offers an intimate and polished portrayal of the actress, drawing on his extensive access to Taylor’s personal spaces. Heymann’s narrative flows with the confidence of someone who has been granted unprecedented insight into her life, providing a grand and exciting account of Taylor’s existence. However, Heymann’s methods have been questioned, and while Liz remains an entertaining read, it should be considered alongside other sources due to its potential inaccuracies.

The book excels at conveying the scale of Taylor’s life and the multitude of people who were drawn to her, creating a captivating tableau of celebrity and obsession.