Allen & Unwin sign former teacher’s ‘haunting’ debut novel of maternal love and grief

Allen & Unwin have netted Becoming Liz Taylor, the debut novel by writer and former teacher Elizabeth Delo. 

Senior editor Kate Ballard bought the rights to the “haunting depiction of bereavement” from Annette Green at Annette Green Authors’ Agency, with the book scheduled for publication in July 2023 by Allen & Unwin imprint Atlantic Books. 

Becoming Liz Taylor tells the story of Val, a widow who spends lonely evenings dressing up as the movie star Elizabeth Taylor. It seems to be a way of coping with the loss and trauma she has experienced in her life. One day, when Val sees a pram left unattended on the seafront, on a whim she kicks off the brake and carries on walking…  

Set in the present and the 1970s, the publisher says Becoming Liz Taylor is “a vivid and haunting depiction of love, loss and bereavement”. 

Delo said: “It was whilst standing in a queue in Weston-super-Mare back in 2015 that I overheard a line of dialogue which made me curious. An idea for a story formed, and I wrote the novel during my MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. 

“I was so excited when my agent Annette Green told me that Kate Ballard had fallen for my main character Val, and her heartbreaking story. I am really looking forward to working with Kate, and am delighted that Becoming Liz Taylor is being published by Allen & Unwin.”

Kate Ballard said she was “hugely impressed” by Elizabeth’s writing and found herself gripped from the outset.

“I found this an original, incredibly tense and ultimately poignant read,” she said, “perfect for readers of Rachel Joyce, Ruth Hogan and Emma Healey, and my team and I are hugely excited to be getting to publish it and share it with readers everywhere next summer.”