If you haven’t guessed, I’ve been going through a Barbara Pym phase these days. It’s been a lot of fun to read novels that are seemingly of “another time” and yet have some delicious biting commentary on human nature that is still relevant today. Plus, Pym has an incisive wit reminiscent of Jane Austen’s. Her novels are highly readable and very engrossing.This novel certainly does not stray from this successful formula. An Unsuitable Attachment follows a parish in urban London, where the poor Caribbean immigrants […]
The sweet dove is not as innocent as it seems.
Some of the popular perceptions of Barbara Pym, from the selected academic criticism I’ve read, are that she’s fusty and outdated, or that she is very chaste. Apparently, none of these academics read The Sweet Dove Died, because sexuality is a HUGE aspect of this novel of manners. In so many ways. Leonora Eyre is a woman of middle-age (we assume), who decides to attend an antique auction and bid on a book herself, much to the dismay of the highly proper antique owner Humphrey, […]
Problems of retirement, friendship, and loneliness.
I requested pretty much the rest of Barbara Pym’s novels from the library, so I’ll be reading a lot of Pym this next month. Hooray! I find her novel of manners to be biting and clever, peopled by characters who are complex and perplexing. It’s a dream. Quartet in Autumn is darker than normal, but I find it highly interesting and frank in its portrayal of retirement and end-of-life issues. The novel centers on four people (hence, the quartet): Edwin, a Christian man and widower; […]
Never trust a red-haired curate.
Last year, I devoured the absolutely scrumptious Jane and Prudence for CBR6. It was like high tea–a savory sandwich, a course of strawberries, and cream, and a tart but juicy lemon dessert. [On a sidenote, I’ve definitely NOT been fantasizing about planning my next tea party. Not at all.] I’ve decided that this spring/summer needs to be dedicated to a Barbara Pym binge, because she is a delicious writer, and I need something delightful in my life–I read a lot of heavy literary fiction, and […]