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The Barbara Pym Collection Volume One: A Glass of Blessings / Some Tame Gazelle / and Jane and Prudence
Three comedies of manners set in postwar England by the New York Times–bestselling author of Excellent Women and “the rarest of treasures” (Anne Tyler). Often characterized as the twentieth-century literary heiress to Jane Austen, and heralded by Phillip Larkin as “the most underrated novelist of the century,” Barbara Pym explored female friendship and the quiet yearnings of British middle-class life—not the least of which, unrequited love—with sharp wit and deep compassion for her characters. No wonder Eudora Welty called her work “sheer delight” and the New York Times raved, “her entire canon is a treat.” A Glass of Wilmet Forsyth is bored with her everyday teatimes, local gossip, even with her husband, Rodney, a civil servant who dotes on her. But Wilmet’s conventional life takes a turn when she runs into the enigmatic brother of a close friend. Piers Longridge is a mystery Wilmet is determined to solve. Driven by a fantasy of romance, the sheltered, naïve Englishwoman sets out to seduce Piers—only to discover that he isn’t the man she thinks he is. Some Tame Pym’s debut novel invites readers to “step into the Jane Austen–like lives of Harriet and Belinda Bede,” sisters who live together in a small English village (The Christian Science Monitor). Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with the married archdeacon of their church for thirty years. Meanwhile Belinda’s more confident younger sister, Harriet, is herself pursued by an Italian count whose proposals of marriage are always graciously declined. But it’s a new arrival in their midst who has everyone talking. For now, in this poignant novel of unrequited love, that is enough. Jane and Jane Cleveland and Prudence Bates were friends at Oxford, but now lead very different lives. Jane is married to a vicar in a proper English parish with a daughter she adores. Prudence lives in London, career-minded and fiercely independent—until Jane decides she should be married. Jane has the perfect husband in mind. What follows is a delightfully trenchant story of manners, morals, family, and female bonding that redefines the social novel for a new generation.
- GenresFiction
787 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 10, 2018
318 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Pym
40 books995 followersPeople know British writer Barbara Pym for her comic novels, such as
Excellent Women
(1952), of English life.
After studying English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, Barbara Pym served in the Women's Royal Naval Service during World War II. From 1950 to 1961, she published six novels, but her 7th was declined by the publisher due to a change in the reading public's tastes.
The turning point for Pym came with a famous article in the 1975 Times Literary Supplement in which two prominent names, Lord David Cecil and Philip Larkin, nominated her as the most underrated writer of the century. Pym and Larkin had kept up a private correspondence over a period of many years. Her comeback novel, Quartet in Autumn, was nominated for the Booker Prize. Another novel, The Sweet Dove Died, previously rejected by many publishers, was subsequently published to critical acclaim, and several of her previously unpublished novels were published after her death.
Pym worked at the International African Institute in London for some years, and played a large part in the editing of its scholarly journal, Africa, hence the frequency with which anthropologists crop up in her novels. She never married, despite several close relationships with men, notably Henry Harvey, a fellow Oxford student, and the future politician, Julian Amery. After her retirement, she moved into Barn Cottage at Finstock in Oxfordshire with her younger sister, Hilary, who continued to live there until her death in February 2005. A blue plaque was placed on the cottage in 2006. The sisters played an active role in the social life of the village.
Several strong themes link the works in the Pym "canon", which are more notable for their style and characterisation than for their plots. A superficial reading gives the impression that they are sketches of village or suburban life, with excessive significance being attached to social activities connected with the Anglican church (in particular its Anglo-Catholic incarnation). However, the dialogue is often deeply ironic, and a tragic undercurrent runs through some of the later novels, especially Quartet in Autumn and The Sweet Dove Died.
After studying English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, Barbara Pym served in the Women's Royal Naval Service during World War II. From 1950 to 1961, she published six novels, but her 7th was declined by the publisher due to a change in the reading public's tastes.
The turning point for Pym came with a famous article in the 1975 Times Literary Supplement in which two prominent names, Lord David Cecil and Philip Larkin, nominated her as the most underrated writer of the century. Pym and Larkin had kept up a private correspondence over a period of many years. Her comeback novel, Quartet in Autumn, was nominated for the Booker Prize. Another novel, The Sweet Dove Died, previously rejected by many publishers, was subsequently published to critical acclaim, and several of her previously unpublished novels were published after her death.
Pym worked at the International African Institute in London for some years, and played a large part in the editing of its scholarly journal, Africa, hence the frequency with which anthropologists crop up in her novels. She never married, despite several close relationships with men, notably Henry Harvey, a fellow Oxford student, and the future politician, Julian Amery. After her retirement, she moved into Barn Cottage at Finstock in Oxfordshire with her younger sister, Hilary, who continued to live there until her death in February 2005. A blue plaque was placed on the cottage in 2006. The sisters played an active role in the social life of the village.
Several strong themes link the works in the Pym "canon", which are more notable for their style and characterisation than for their plots. A superficial reading gives the impression that they are sketches of village or suburban life, with excessive significance being attached to social activities connected with the Anglican church (in particular its Anglo-Catholic incarnation). However, the dialogue is often deeply ironic, and a tragic undercurrent runs through some of the later novels, especially Quartet in Autumn and The Sweet Dove Died.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 25, 2021
A Glass of Blessings, Indeed!
Rereading Barbara Pym is so delightful and charming. My favorite book by her is Excellent Women, but these three are rather wonderful too. Her main characters are all women in an interesting crossroads in their lives. They are not dramatic works of art. These stories are something more difficult. They are tales of the ordinary and humdrum lives of women of the middle class and of a middle age or older who think life has passed them by. Most unexpectedly, they are usually wrong. Funny and embarrassing things happen quite frequently too, as her women are all too human and silly things occur all the time in real life, so do they in Ms. Pym's world.
Rereading Barbara Pym is so delightful and charming. My favorite book by her is Excellent Women, but these three are rather wonderful too. Her main characters are all women in an interesting crossroads in their lives. They are not dramatic works of art. These stories are something more difficult. They are tales of the ordinary and humdrum lives of women of the middle class and of a middle age or older who think life has passed them by. Most unexpectedly, they are usually wrong. Funny and embarrassing things happen quite frequently too, as her women are all too human and silly things occur all the time in real life, so do they in Ms. Pym's world.
April 17, 2019
I have reviewed each of these novels indiviually.
April 28, 2021
I’m sorry to say that I only made it through the first section. Darlings, I thought I should have died of boredom,but of course in a very ladylike fashion, thoroughly ruining my mole colored dress and crashing in to the silver framed family portraits resting atop the lace capped mahogany table in the corner if I had forced myself to read ONE MORE WORD!
June 3, 2021
Enjoyable slice of life in post WWII Britain
These books are fun to read if you enjoy a peak at middle class British life in the 50’s with Anglican churchgoers and garden parties and romantic intrigue of the most chaste sort. They are light reading at its best- an opportunity to forget your troubles and enjoy a simpler time.
These books are fun to read if you enjoy a peak at middle class British life in the 50’s with Anglican churchgoers and garden parties and romantic intrigue of the most chaste sort. They are light reading at its best- an opportunity to forget your troubles and enjoy a simpler time.
May 18, 2020
Moving to another land and time is soothing, but also instructive about things one ought not to do if one is to be actually civilized as opposed to just looking like it. Of course the housekeeping scenes are either comforting or recognisable. :)
October 21, 2025
I love all the Barbara Pym books.
Funnily enough I've read all the Barbara Pym books and also a biography of her life. My father, mother and I were all fans of her. She lived mainly in Oxford. Many of her characters appear in her other books. And, when young, a bit like Charlotte Bronte, she did fall in love with a man who crops up as a character (Henry) in many of her books and in real life they remained lifelong friends and I believe she visited him when he was dying.
And like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte she lived with her sister.
The first novel she wrote when young was about two middle aged sisters living together. And that's what happened to her.
Excellent Women was a favourite. But I liked all her books.
Some people have remarked that her novels are a bit reminiscent of Jane Austen, and I agree with that.
Funnily enough I've read all the Barbara Pym books and also a biography of her life. My father, mother and I were all fans of her. She lived mainly in Oxford. Many of her characters appear in her other books. And, when young, a bit like Charlotte Bronte, she did fall in love with a man who crops up as a character (Henry) in many of her books and in real life they remained lifelong friends and I believe she visited him when he was dying.
And like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte she lived with her sister.
The first novel she wrote when young was about two middle aged sisters living together. And that's what happened to her.
Excellent Women was a favourite. But I liked all her books.
Some people have remarked that her novels are a bit reminiscent of Jane Austen, and I agree with that.
July 10, 2025
Barbara Pym was a super-hero. She is often compared to Austen. I like her more. Her viewpoint is humorous, biting, but never cruel humor. This the world of post war Britain, seen through pastel paisley glasses.
September 14, 2024
Finished A Glass of Blessings and Some Tame Gazelle. Now for Jane and Prudence!
February 14, 2020
Did not find this at all interesting.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews