A Glass of Blessings

by Barbara Pym

Wilmet Forsyth is well dressed, well looked after, suitably husbanded, good looking and fairly young - but very bored. Her husband Rodney, a handsome army major, is slightly balder and fatter than he once was. Wilmet would like to think she has changed rather less. Her interest wanders to the nearby Anglo-catholic church, where at last she can neglect her comfortable household in the more serious-minded company of three unmarried priests, and, of course, Piers Longridge, a man of an unfathomably different character altogether.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, British Literature, 20th Century, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Humor

277 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

People 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previously rejected by many publishers, was subsequently published to critical acclaim, and several of her previously unpublished novels were published after her death.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.

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Austen set in 1950s London

This reminded me of Emma a bit. Wilmet is a pretty, self satisfied, elegant lady who has a lot of free time since her husband takes care of her. She gets into a spot of bother, flirting with her best friend's husband and brother. Not really understanding men too well, she reads all kinds of things into friendly interest. Self-involved, she hardly noticed that around her there are three, unlikely (to her), couples being formed. She also ignores her husband to both their detriment, but all's well that ends well and this story resolves itself with a dash of humor which is always the right thing to add to the mix.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s really a shame Pym isn’t read and talked about more often. Her writing evokes Anthony Trollope with his insights into people’s hearts crossed with a dollop of Jane Austen’s humor. Pym writes about middle class people going about their day to day activities just as Trollope and Austen did and just like them she makes the characters fascinating.

The book is set in the 50’s and told from the viewpoint of a 29 year old childless woman named Wilmet as she tries to navigate growing older. (I suppose 29 was considered differently then.) Though she’s happy with her husband whom she met in Italy while serving as a WREN and he was a dashing soldier she still likes the attention of other men. She runs into them at innocuous places such as church and while visiting friends. Pym’s humor is understated. There are no mean undertones. She touches on homey things like knitting, helping a friend choose a new dress or hairdo, nights at home with her husband and mother in law, romantic memories of the war years and Italy, church gossip, and even listening to John Rutter on the radio directing Christmas carols sung by the King’s Cambridge choir. She invokes past authors such as Wilde and Woolf and Trollope. I hope I’m not giving the impression that this is a bit of fluff writing because it’s not. It’s immensely complex writing but I also keep wanting to describe it as delicate. The best part of her writing is having a front row seat at a cozy chat between friends where you get to see the subtext.

read
11-2-10
reread
11-7-12 with otherlit group

[Judith E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s just take a tiny peek at post-war, English, genteel society, shall we? Where there are Church activities, and life revolves around tea time and lunch dates. Where social constrictions are heading to the swinging 1960’s.

In A Glass of Blessings, I fear the main character would be known today as a “Karen”. She’s young, married, and doesn’t work. She’s a lady of leisure and privilege and her outlook and daily activities in her English countryside are what give the reader a real look into this strata of English society at the time. I thought B. Pym was able to elevate the minutiae of everyday actions and thoughts of a small group of characters into an enticing, informative, and sometimes humorous read. There is a strong Anglican Church component and a romantic side plot, both of which I usually avoid, but Pym’s strength is to reveal the inner conflicts of her varied characters and their progression through life while luring the reader to the conclusion.

One might find these characters dull or unlikeable, but I got a kick out of every one of them.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had as much as Mary had - there was no reason why my own life should not be a glass of blessings too. Perhaps it always had been without my realizing it.

I'm not the first to say this but Pym really does seem to be channeling Jane Austen's Emma in this book, though it's disguised and the setting is typical Pym-world of vicars and tea parties.

The London setting recalls Excellent Women only Wilmet is no Mildred: she's self-absorbed and a bit smug, she knows her looks and her elegant clothes make her attractive to men, and she has no qualms about being judgemental about women like the 'dim and mousy' Mary Beamish. Only Wilmet's own marriage has become stale and her crush on the glamorous but difficult Piers gives her something to think about in her leisured life - until her own version of Emma's Box Hill experience brings her face to face with her own true self.

Wilmet's growth is subtly done and it's quite a feat to make her flawed and so blind to her own privilege and solipsism while still keeping her sympathetic. Pym shores up her main character with a varied comic cast, from the celibate churchmen to the wonderful Sybil. There are nods back to characters in the earlier books - Rocky Napier, Archbishop Hoccleve, Prudence who doesn't appear but plays an important 'Prudence' role - and Wilmet realises her own blindness when not one, not two, but three relationships are formed under her eyes without her being aware of them.

Unusually, I think, for Pym this is a first person narrative and that works well to foreground the differences between what Wilmet thinks or tells herself and how we judge both other characters and her responses to them. Pym's technique does precisely what we need it to do.

For me, this combines all the humour and comfort of early Pym with a more serious plot as Wilmet matures and becomes a nicer, more compassionate person - that this is about internal changes rather than big dramatic happenings makes this all the more satisfying. From about halfway through this becomes almost impossible to put down - it's charming and delightful but has a kind of Austenesque moral development that I loved.

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book by Barbara Pym I've read, and once again I've enjoyed her writing. "A Glass of Blessings" feels even more like Jane-Austen-writes-a-1950s-novel than Excellent Women (we even get a newly-married vicar "getting a living" at the end).

In "A Glass of Blessings" we get to experience the world of the British 50s through the limited perspective of Wilmet Forsyth, whose sheltered existence of idleness and privilege is tainted by emptiness and boredom. Wilfred really comes to life through the first person narration and Barbara Pym's writing genius -- as much as it's often rather annoying to be in her naïve and supercilious little head, she is neither dull nor unlikeable (Jane Austen's Emma comes to mind). If life is a glass of blessings, as claims Wilmet's virtuous acquaintance, there is definitely a special place for Barbara Pym's quietly witty novels in this vessel.

I do prefer "Excellent Women" though. Wilfred's trials and tribulations seemed too petty to make me truly care about her.


Image credits: Wikimedia Commons, by Megalit

Read in 2022.

[Sketchbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anglican flirtations. Sensitive, specialized.
"I never know what it is that Christians want when they pray for the sick," said Sybil. "Death is greatly to be desired for believers, and yet they never like to pray for that." Exactly.

Heavenly socials: I bet Joan of Arc is marvelous at bridge. Who else is around? See anyone you know ?

[Christmas Carol ꧁꧂ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★

I don't want to be too dismissive, as a lot of my Goodreads friends love Pym & this is the first book I have read by her. But this book reminded me a lot of Angela Thirkell with a dash of E.M. Delafield & D.E. Stevenson thrown in & I haven't really vibed with these authors so far. (although I think I have read enough Thirkell now to know she isn't for me.)

The way a homosexual couple was handled was interesting. The 1950s were a time of censorship & Pym is clever in that you know what she is talking about but she doesn't actually come out & say it.

The quality of writing is rather better though & the humour is very subtle - there was enough so that a chuckle was surprised out of me every now & then. There was a genuine twist for me in the ending, which did show that still waters can run deep.

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading A Glass of Blessings on Wednesday this week and finished it yesterday, Friday. This is an important point, 3 whole days with this book, 3 whole days inside Wilmet Forsyth's head; and although at several points I sighed with impatience and irritation and on occasion a smile of condescension, I did read every word and right to the very last sentence of the very last page. The overall feeling was one of restriction, of blindness. I complained bitterly to my partner: "I read the book. It wasn't my choice, but I did it, because I wanted to support the group." Virago Modern Classics. I felt mildly virtuous - a bit like Wilmet, and I went to bed, and slept on it.

In the night I woke up - 4 a.m. and had a revelation. It's all done in first-person narrative, so it's like being trapped inside Wilmet and all the narrow conventions of her personally plus the conventions of her day - eugh! I shuddered and realised how uncomfortable the whole reading process had been - and never would I ever in a million years choose to be 30 again - and yet isn't that what Pym has made us do? There were so many moments when I wanted to leave Wilmet in her stupid - strong word you might say - no I am repeating it - stupid naivety.

And yet Pym engaged me enough so that I couldn't quite let the book go. I was hooked - in all my discomfort. In the night - I cast my thoughts back to the other book I have read by Pym - Excellent Women - and it is indeed an excellent book, one I could get my teeth into and agree wholeheartedly with the main narrator - yes women's choices in the 1950s were exceedingly narrow, yes marriage is not a suitable choice for all and sundry, yes young women are led to believe that marriage is a fairy-tale, with a fairy-tale perfection.

Back to A Glass Of Blessings (VMC) by Pym, Barbara - I was infuriated with Wilmet in so many ways; allow me just one example. Wilmet at 30 has been married for 10 years, to a young army officer she met, I would guess at the end of the war, whilst they are both stationed in Italy. Wilmet is serving as a WREN. It is all so romantic. They hold hands in the back of a taxi, and then next moment, married! 10 years later, real-life London, Wilmet who is a religious person hasn't strayed yet. On a visit to her best friend Rowena, the two young women reminisce over a past romance, and this sets the tone for most of Wilmet's internal thoughts:

'He asked me to go and have a drink with him, so of course I did, though I was supposed to be meeting Harry's mother for lunch at Fortnum's. We went into a bar and had two dry Martinis, and do you know I didn't feel a thing!'
'What, from Rocky or the drink?'
'From Rocky -wasn't it sad? And to think of all the agony of that six weeks when I was in love with him!'
'Was it only six weeks?'
'Yes, because then I met Harry. That letter I wrote to Rocky - oh dear, I feel quite ashamed now, quoting Donne and all that - "but after one such love can love no more . . ." Aren't women foolish!' Rowena's eyes sparkled even more brightly. 'I couldn't help thinking about that letter all the time that I was sipping my Martini. Why does one say sipping a cocktail? I was positively gulping it down!'
'I don't suppose Rocky remembered the letter,' I said, meaning to be consoling rather than catty, but perhaps a little of both.
'No, that's a comfort. He must have had so many. Now he lives in the country with that rather formidable wife, and they have a child - just think of it!'
'Well, you have three.'
'Yes, I'm very lucky. It's a pity you haven't any, Wilmet,' she added tentatively. 'Do you mind?'
'A little, I suppose. It makes one feel rather useless. Still, there's plenty to occupy my time.'

And so the tone is set. This idle chatter also foreshadows what happens to Wilmet as is intended, but what really strikes myself here is the passing comment on Wilmet's inability to have children. That's it. At no other point in the whole book is this referenced in any way. No discussion between Wilmet and Rodney, her husband, although maybe there have been past conversations we are not privy to. No discussion between Wilmet and her mother-in-law, Sybil with whom Rodney and Wilmet live; and Sybil is indeed an older, wiser woman, who I think most definitely sees through Wilmet as through a sheet of glass. This whole era of no one ever talking about any matter of any importance sends a shudder of concern through me. Ok, it is this particular upper-middle class world, where ladies lunch at Fortnum's but still, did Wilmet have no resources other than a passing comment from her best friend?

I would like to make many more observations, but then I would spoil the experience for newcomers. I will end by saying that Wilmet does indeed grow and passes through a deeply hurtful experience. It allows us to feel compassion and also understanding for both her and for ourselves. Most readers will see the title in its obvious suggestion, that we do well to look at the good things in our lives and not dwell on the negatives or the things we cannot change, but I also realise that Wilmet's short-lived passion, with its painful comeuppance is a Blessing. It is those painful experiences in life which shape us into who we are. We have to embrace the pain and by living through it we do indeed become better and stronger and much nicer people.

5 magnificent stars for the very, very clever and wise Barbara Pym. My mind keeps going to a contemporary of Pym's - Barbara Comyns and her book, which I have not yet read:Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead - I feel there must be strong similarities between these two novels.

[Shawn Mooney (Shawn Breathes Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may end up being my favorite Pym novel. (I’m reading them in sequence, and this one at least ties with her debut, Some Tame Gazelle, in my affections.) Unlike most Pym protagonists, Wilmet is married. She has a roving eye both in the classic sense but more broadly in the way she gazes and gawks, missing some important obvious things but keenly picking up on much else, slaying the reader with hilarious, often deliciously wicked observations.

My BookTube review: https://youtu.be/4lzhOmwyXU0

[Piyangie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Glass of Blessings is, to me, a better novel by Barbara Pym. After my disappointment in Jane and Prudence, I was cautious in selecting what to read from her repertoire. I'm glad about my selection, for this was an enjoyable novel - a comfort read.

Barbara Pym doesn't write stories as we expect them - ones with a steady coherent flow. Instead, she writes about the daily lives of her characters and works on their life-changing events and incidents. When one understands that, it is easy to appreciate her work. Pym is not bent on any commentary on society and its convention. Rather, she is focused on eliciting the humour of actions of everyday human life irrespective of gender. Certain things may be dated, but one cannot deny that some of the prejudices that dictated the society of her day still dictate the society of our time. To that extent, Pym's characters are relatable to us.

In A Glass of Blessings, the characters Pym has created were diverse and interesting. The protagonist and narrator, Wilmet Forsyth, is perhaps the most interesting with her naive and ignorant views of the world. Married young, living in the house of her mother-in-law with her somewhat dull husband, and having no children, she has all the time to spare. And her life seems to her unproductive and boring. In her efforts to break from the monotonous boring existence, she embarks on various missions which are brought out humorously by Pym. Mind you, Pym is NOT laughing at the character; she is only portraying the consequence of looking for joy and contentment outside yourself, rather than finding it within. Wilmet, at the end of the novel, learns that lesson. Almost all the characters are portrayed quite well so that I was truly drawn to each one's story. I was extremely pleased by how Pym wound up each story of her characters at the end of the novel. It gave me quite a satisfactory feeling.

With this reading, I was able to see Barbara Pym as an author unveiled from the Austenian cloak. And I must say she has her own charisma which draws in the readers.

More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/

[Lisa]

Pym's books are literary comfort food; sweet, sad tales of real--ordinary--people. Impoverished gentlewomen, spinsters, repressed bachelors, pensioners and altar-society matrons; unfailingly soothing.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can a Jean Rhys stan and an Anita Brookner geriatric fanboy find happiness with Barbara Pym? If it’s Pym’s A Glass of Blessings, the answer is “not so much.”

Ewww. . . that ending. It brings to mind an artisan baker who inexplicably adds an extra cup of sugar to a lemon drizzle cake: the sugar pools at one end of the cake and the last slice is cloyingly, almost inedibly sweet. . . With the final chapter of A Glass of Blessings, Pym manages to wreck an otherwise good novel. Go ahead, Wilmet, just drag that louche Piers Longridge to bed with you. Piers, what’s with you and Keith, your handsome, knitting pattern model roomie? And Wilmet — yes you, Mrs. Forsyth — could you really be that obtuse as to not realize that your best friend’s husband as well as Piers are propositioning you?

A Glass of Blessings has many strongpoints. Pym’s prose is usually immaculate and transparently clear, with unnecessary punctuation, fancy words, and useless adjectives omitted. It’s an immensely readable novel. The first person voice of Wilmet Forsyth is amusing and wacky. Pym skewers Wilmet as remarkably, perhaps willingly naïve and shockingly entitled, yet Wilmet nonetheless emerges as a likable ditz. In a gentler time, Wilmet’s life, filled as it is with privilege and an unlimited future might be entrancing or charming. Pym deftly portrays Wilmet’s fellow parishioners, her mother-in-law, her husband, and the wonderful Piers and Keith. But even Pym’s lovely writing can’t save A Glass of Blessings from its treacle.

3.5 stars. Give me Jean Rhy’s despair and Anita Brookner’s loneliness any day.

[Plateresca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it is because I haven't reviewed anything here in a while, but it's difficult for me to give an accurate description of this book. The word 'Pymish', of course, comes to mind, but it only says something to somebody who has read Pym before, and this somebody likely doesn't need this here review.

So, it is often said that nothing happens in Pym's novels. Having just read a particularly dramatic instalment from a novel by Dickens, I understand where this is coming from; but thinking about life in general, I cannot agree with this any more than I can agree that nothing worthy of interest ever happens to married women. I mean, however humble our excitements and disappointments might seem, this is our life, so of course, for us, they are meaningful.

This is less 'light & bright & sparkling' than 'Excellent Women', but less sad than 'Quartet in Autumn'. It is an amusing read, but with a strong undertone of melancholy. I enjoyed it, but I kept wishing that the protagonist would get something better than what she gets, or maybe than anybody in a Pym novel ever gets.

And it's very difficult to quote this novel: every quote I've looked at is so tongue in cheek. Like this one:

'Yes, but I suppose we should all be able to make our lives sound romantic if we took the trouble to write about them,' I said.
This is said at the very beginning of the novel, and as it comes from our narrator, one would suppose that this is a kind of foreshadowing; but this is more akin to a private joke from the author.

If you like quiet, understated, slightly ironic books, this is for you. (And maybe not for you if you're looking for a lot of dramatic action).

P. S. I loved it that there is a very minor character called Miss Pim :)

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1958, this is a delightful novel about a woman who is a little too pleased with herself. Protagonist Wilmet Forsyth is a thirty-something woman, married to a civil servant, living in a rural village in England. She is an attractive woman (and knows it). She is a little bored, so she flirts with a couple of men, and believes they are attracted to her. Her main activities are associated with her local Anglican church, interactions with the clergy, and hosting or attending dinners. The storyline follows a small group of characters interacting in their daily lives.

This is a low-key character driven novel that contains plenty of subtle humor. We spend most of the novel listening to the thoughts of the protagonist-narrator Wilmet, who eventually discovers something important about herself. It is a beautifully written novel. The author has a keen insight into human nature. It is a story about appreciating what we have in life rather than chasing after “excitement.” As I went along, I was enjoying it, but when I got to the end, I had an “aha” moment, much like Wilmet. Highly recommended.

[Bobbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a reread for me, and cliche or not, I love every one of Pym's books for their Austen-like quality, the most gentle yet pointed and funny contemporary social commentary I know of and impossible to describe. I mean, the main character here is an upper middle-class 30ish Britisher whose main concerns are church doings, what she wears, critiquing her friends, romantic dreaming...and I'm riveted and smiling all the way through. It may help to be an Anglophile, I'm not sure. I identify with self-delusion, maybe that's the draw. Someone else's review mentioned repressed passion, but I think that's just Britishness.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, as always, particularly for the warm, kind and subtle queerness. The cast of obviously gay and not-so-obviously gay characters tells us much about Pym’s humanity

[Terris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot, mostly because Barbara Pym's writing makes me feel peaceful and calm.
The story focuses on Wilmet, the main character, and her dealings with the church and people involved with the church (some who are fairly quirky!), though the book isn't about religion! All the while, she tries to figure out what she wants from her own life. But it is not heavy at all, and just calmly moves through Wilmet's life until she gets everything figured out!

It's a very nice story and confirms why Barbara Pym is one of my favorites writers :)

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oh Wilmet, life is perfect now! I've got everything that I could possibly want. I keep thinking that it's like a glass of blessings - life, I mean..."
"That comes from a poem by George Herbert, doesn't it?" I said. 'When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by ..."
"But don't forget that other line ... how when all the other blessing had been bestowed, rest lay in the bottom of the glass...

In ‘A Glass of Blessings’ we are back in the familiar parochial territory that we first encountered in Some Tame Gazelle, Jane and Prudence and Excellent Women. Wilmet Forsyth is our narrator, in her early thirties; she is a nicely mannered well-dressed attender of high Anglican services. She lives in her mother-in-laws house with her husband Rodney in a respectable suburb of London. Not having really very much to do, Wilmet likes to believe she is able to do good to others, accompanying her mother-in-law to The Settlement – an institution of some unspecified charitable kind – where the exceptionally good, but rather drab Mary Beamish is often to be found. However Wilmet is bored, her husband is slipping into comfortable middle-age – a little fatter and balder than when she had first met him, with his job in The Ministry that he disappears to each day. Wilmet contents herself with the company of three local unmarried priests - helping with the search of a new housekeeper for the clergy house, introducing them to Bason who had previously worked at The Ministry with her husband – a job Bason had proved unsuited for.
“Now’ said Mr Bason moving us on like a guide. ‘I think we might take the merest peep in Father Thames’s study. I expect you would like to see that.’
He had already opened the door before we could express any opinion and I crept forward rather guiltily as if expecting some kind of retribution to fall on me.
The first impression was of a rather crowded museum, for there seemed to be a great many objects arranged in glass-fronted cabinets and on the mantelpiece. The room was dominated by an enormous desk of some rich-looking wood. This rather surprised me, for I had not hitherto had the impression that Father Thames was the scholarly type of clergyman; though, on thinking it over, I supposed that every parish priest must have a large desk, if only to answer his correspondence and prepare his sermons.”
Also providing a welcome distraction – which starts to almost become a rather unsuitable infatuation – is Piers Longridge – the rather unsuccessful brother of Wilmet’s best friend Rowena. Piers works as a proof reader – and teaches Portuguese at night classes that Wilmet and Sybil –her mother-in-law decides to attend.
Wilmet is a likeable character although she seems quite vain, constantly examining herself and her motivations, she often sees herself as not being quite as good as she might be. Wilmet often fails to understand the people around her including her husband and especially Piers, her imagination really running away with itself at times. As the novel progresses Wilmet begins to learn something about love and her relationships with the people in her life, beginning to appreciate the friendship of Mary Beamish rather more than she had done previously. Sybil provides a lively contrast to her daughter-in-law – living life to the full, springing a surprise of her own in the end and proving that she at least has a positive attitude to life and the living of it.
Readers of previous Pym novels will be delighted with the references to characters from Excellent Women and Jane and Prudence – there is even a passing mention of Archbishop Hoccleve from Some Tame Gazelle. I was rather delighted that Wilmet and her friend Rowena had once nursed tender feelings for Rocky Napier. Pym’s wonderfully dry humour and keen observation help to recreate this world that must now surely be gone forever – if it ever really existed, yet it is a world I feel perfectly happy in.

[Alexander Inglis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here was a totally unexpected -- and unexpectedly delightful -- read. Barbara Pym was hailed twice by the Times Literary Supplement as "the most underrated novelist of the century" -- that was 1977; she died three years later in 1980 at the age of 67 having published just 7 novels in her lifetime of which A Glass of Blessings was her fifth.

Set in 1950s London, this witty novel is told through the narration of the shallow and self-absorbed protagonist Wilmet Forsyth who, despite her flaws, begins to learn something about love and about herself. The characters are explored in everyday activities, many involving the church (no less than three priests are central to the evolving events), and the others part of Wilmet's family (including her mother-in-law who owns and rules their home) and friends. When by chance, she re-connects with a childhood friend, Piers Longridge, and imagines he is a secret admirer, her heart re-awakens after years of colourless genteel contentment.

For social historians, there are endless observations, not least the very sympathetic portrayal of one matter-of-factly homosexual couple, and the richly embedded role of the church in daily lives as a social, rather than religious, institutiton.

Since her death, Pym has been recognised by countless scholarly revisitations, including an official Barbara Pym Society.

A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym. Published in 1958; currently out of print although available in a Darknet Digital Edition.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update Feb 2017: How did I give Barbara Pym 3 stars? All her books are 5 stars forever. I love them to pieces, even though I get confused about the characters mentioned across books. Wilmet's a darling ridiculous dear who tactfully leaves a lot unsaid.

---

Usually I like Pym’s heroines more than I did here; Wilmet seems less self-aware than Pym’s usual, especially as a first person narrator. I simultaneously loved and hated the moment when Wilmet and her husband burst out laughing together in the horrid little restaurant; it seemed too pat, but is life really like that after all? Loved the scene that’s illustrated on the cover of the edition I read -- Wilmet entering the parish hall for the evening social gathering to meet Father Ransome. Reminded me of the hours spent in the fellowship hall of the church I grew up in (Protestant, though -- Christian Reformed). Definitely not my favourite Pym but she’s such a reliable delight that one day I shall reread this, even though I've only given it three stars.

--

"'Won't you at least have a drink before you go?' Sybil asked. 'I'm sure you'll need it.'

"I refused, thinking that it might not mix very well with the refreshments I should get at the parish hall, and it occurred to me that one could perhaps classify different groups of circles of people according to drink. I myself seemed to belong to two very clearly defined circles -- the Martini drinkers and the tea drinkers though I was only just beginning to be initiated into the latter. I imagined that both might offer different kinds of comfort, though there would surely be times when one might prefer the one that wasn't available. Indeed, as I approached the parish hall, which was next door to the clergy house, I began to wish that I had paid more heed to Sybil's suggestion of a drink."

--

"'This precious blood,' she murmured, and began muttering to herself, first about her blood and then about irrelevant things which I could only half hear -- a quarrel with somebody about a broken milk bottle and what they had said to each other. It seemed like a 'stream of consciousness' novel, but I was relieved when she stopped talking for I had been afraid that she might address me. Virginia Woolf might have brought something away from the experience, I thought; perhaps writers always do this, from situations that merely shock and embarrass ordinary people."

--

"He was one of those preachers who, on coming to the end of what they have to say, find it impossible to stop. Sentence after sentence seemed as if it must be the last but still he went on. I felt as if I had been wrapped round and round in a cocoon of wordiness, like a great suffocating eiderdown."

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this will end up being one of my favorite Pyms. I particularly liked the main character, Wilmet, who's terribly self-centered (though not in a nasty way) but very sympathetic at the same time.

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet book about a woman in her 30's in post-war Britain, just living her life, wondering about her usefulness, and that of those around her.

She is married and lives with her husband and widowed mother-in-law, is active in her church, fairly happy, but is just at that point where she is looking around trying to figure out what it is all about.

This is a very lighthearted book, with a few awkward sexually suggestive situations handled in a very typical 1950's manner. How else do you out a gay man but to reveal that the "colleague" with whom he shares an apartment models sweaters for knitting magazines?

The book touches on many other topics that were timely in the 50's in Great Britain, such as, should Anglican clergy be celibate, is it alright for married couples to carry on flirtatious outside of their marriage, can the elderly fall in love?

I imagine it would have been an excellent selection for a book club to read at the time. It has lost most of its relevance, but is, nonetheless, a good reading in bed book.

I actually read this novel in a collection of three Barbara Pym books, and will be reading the other two in short order.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming and witty story with a bit of bite. Wilmet Forsyth, our narrator, is a wealthy and leisured woman who is rather bored. She livens her life up with visits to her friend Rowena, attendance at the nearby church of St Luke’s, and attending Portuguese lessons with her mother-in-law Sybil where she becomes mildly infatuated with the tutor Piers (Rowena’s wayward brother).

For Wilmet, this novel is a voyage of self-discovery, that she is blind to her privilege and good fortune and mistaken in her assumptions about the people around her. Yet Pym shows this with subtlety and compassion - Wilmet is not unlikeable or deliberately cruel - and there is a lot of humour and warmth in the book.

As always, the secondary characters are varied and interesting - I particularly liked Sybil and the ‘dowdy’ Mary Beamish, and found the clergymen’s housekeeper Mr Bason absolutely hilarious. It was fun to see mentions of characters from earlier Pym books too. Best of all is how Pym finds humour and joy in ordinary life, and shares it gleefully with her readers.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it :) Such a Pym lover.

[Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seem to have read this book in August 2018 and the only thing that rang familiar to me was the Fabergé egg scene - and even that in minimal detail.

My god! These characters! The main character - Wilmet Forsythe! How insufferable she is! How privileged and self-centred! How funny! How out of touch!

This strikes me as atypical Pym, first because it centres a married woman, and second because of its sexuality. There is a LOT of sex, or at least, flirting and skirting with sex, and (as I noticed on my re-read of Excellent Women) a great variety of it: standard straight couples typified by Wilmet and Rodney; and then some remarkably outside-the-norm (for the times), including a pretty obvious gay couple -- obvious, that is, to everyone except our oblivious heroine, Wilmet.

I am loving my re-read of Pym because it is becoming increasingly more apparent to me that the landscape she is carving out is so much richer and more complex than one would give it credit for, and certainly than I gave it credit for on my initial reads. In particular, here (published in 1958 and I think meant to be roughly contemporaneous), I think she is directly setting her characters up in that liminal mid-century space where the social and class chasm started to widen between the gentrified establishment set and the up-and-coming swinging sixties set.

We get a delightful example of this in the contrast between the back-to-back visits Wilmet and Rodney make to the coffee bar, where Keith works, and the antiques shop tea house, where Wilf Bason works, during the culminating scenes (during which W & R each, significantly, confess their not-quite-but-close-enough-affairs, Rodney's with -- get this -- Prudence Bates of Jane and Prudence fame! There are several such cross-references throughout, reminding me again of the extraordinary and networked world Pym is building with these characters).

A fantastically engaging novel and one of Pym's best (although I seem to be saying that with each one I re-read and review!). Be warned tho': the narrator, Mary Sarah, is off-putting; really quite bizarre. It's not just her wildly inconsistent accent that even my Canadian ears can hear as all kinds of wrong; it's her cadence and tone. Plus, she stomps all over some lines that are meant to be scathing and hilarious. It's such a shame but a testament to the quality of the novels rising above the dreadful reading of them.

[Ruthiella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Glass of Blessings is narrated by Wilmet Forsyth, a young married woman who has perhaps a little too much time on her hands. She differs very much from the unmarried, excellent women who have been the main characters of the other Pym novels I’ve read.

Wilmet thinks she would like to “do good works” and she attends services at a nearby Anglican church regularly. But on the other hand, she yearns for something more exciting…she even entertains the idea of an affair. She and her husband, Rodney, have settled into a complacent if comfortable marriage. Wilmet considers a relationship with Piers, the rather feckless brother of her best friend Rowena. Also, Rowena’s husband Harry would like to be more than just friends with Wilmet. And there is a darkly handsome new assistant priest at St. Luke’s.

This was a very low key sort of romantic comedy; not much happens, yet subtly lots of things happen as Wilmet navigates her way through various relationships. Now that I know to look for them, I found so many links to other characters in the Pymverse which added an extra layer of enjoyment to this already charming read!

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Re-read in November 2023 with PemberLittens. Very satisfying the second time around.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Put the kettle on!

I’m not sure how many Pyms I’ve read, but I’m very pleased there are more in my future. She is such a delight. But what appears to be a comedy of eccentric 1950s London upper class characters actually has a lot more under the surface. Including a very modern attitude towards a gay couple which I found so interesting. Because it was just there. No judgement. In the 1950s. Impressive.

I always watch out for the jumble sale reference. This one came at 5% into my ebook. I particularly loved all the knitting references. And at one point Sybil (the mother-in-law of the main character, Wilmet) actually told me she didn’t like me! “I despise women who are always knitting”. Well I think she had better watch what she says. I found her knitting a lot more as I kept reading. I think we can be good friends after all.

I’ve had this on my TBR/kindle for awhile and I’m thankful to spilling tea book club for picking it as their inaugural choice. (You should read this and go watch their video about the book on YouTube!)

[Tabuyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Primera decepción de año. A Barbara Pym la conocí gracias a su libro «Mujeres Excelentes» y recuerdo que me gustó mucho pero en «Los hombres de Wilmet» no ha conseguido conquistarme.
Ni su personaje principal (con el que no empaticé) ni su historia (que no me enganchó) han conseguido que volviera a disfrutar de la pluma de Barbara Pym.
Tan solo al principio de la novela brillaron algunos comentarios feministas de la protagonista. Me pareció un gesto muy valiente para los años 50 en los que se publicó la obra.
Por lo demás no hay nada digno de ser destacado.

[JacquiWine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy returning to the comforting world of Barbara Pym, populated as it is by ‘excellent’, well-meaning women, idiosyncratic Anglican clergymen and somewhat fusty academics. It’s a place that seems both mildly absurd and oddly believable, full of the sharply-observed details that Pym captures so well. First published in 1958, A Glass of Blessings is another lovely addition to this author’s body of work, a charming novel of mild flirtations and misunderstandings.

Blessings is narrated by Wilmet Forsyth, a well-dressed, attractive woman in her early thirties, comfortably married to the dependable but rather dull Rodney, a civil servant at the Ministry. Having met in Italy during the war when Wilmet was in the Wrens and Rodney in the Army, the couple now live quite amiably with Sybil, Rodney’s amiable mother, in a well-heeled London suburb.

With Rodney out at work all day and Sybil busy with her charitable work, Wilmet is rather at a loss for something to do. Rodney doesn’t want his wife to work as his salary provides more than enough for them to live comfortably at the family home. And in any case, Wilmet doesn’t appear to have trained for any roles – why should she with a solid husband to take care of her? So, instead, Wilmet spins out her days on a combination of bits and pieces, attending evening classes in Portuguese with Sybil, lunching with various friends and spending time with the priests at her local parish.

As is often the case with Pym, there are few, if any, dramatic plot developments here. Instead, Pym focuses on the characters and the interactions they have with one another over the course of the story. For a woman in her early thirties, Wilmet has led a somewhat sheltered existence – there were no lovers before Rodney, she has no children and few close friends to speak of, and her social circle is relatively narrow. So when Piers Longridge – the brother of her closest friend, Rowena – starts paying Wilmet some attention, she looks forward to a little mild flirtation…

I got into the train in a kind of daze. As it lurched on from station to station I gave myself up to a happy dream in which I went to look after Piers when he was ill or depressed or just had a hangover. And yet, had that been what I meant when I had made my offer to him? Not an offer, exactly. But if not an offer, then what? I felt that Piers really needed me as few people did. Certainly not Rodney, I told myself, justifying my foolish indulgence. Piers needed love and understanding, perhaps already he was happier because of knowing me. When I had reached this conclusion I felt contented and peaceful, and leaned back in my seat, smiling to myself. (pp. 174–175)

Wilmet, it seems, is not terribly good at reading other people and picking up on their signals – a failing that leads to disappointment when she finally meets Piers’ flatmate. (I’ll leave you to discover the wonderful irony of that moment for yourself, should you decide to read the book!)

To read the rest of my review, please visit:

https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Wilmet Forsyth is fairly young, good-looking, well dressed, well looked after, suitably husbanded and rather bored. Her interest wanders to the nearby Anglo-Catholic church and its three unmarried priests, and on to Piers Longridge whose enigmatic overtures are rather intriguing.

"The story of an innocent at large is, as usual, handled brilliantly and tactfully by a writer whose sense of social comedy, and whose penetration, are of the highest order."
~~back cover

I must have blinked, & missed something. I thought this book was dreadfully dull -- a boring account of a young woman with too much time on her hands and not enough to occupy herself with. Rather than throwing herself into good works, or taking up riding, or the WI as many English middle class women seem to do, Wilmet wanders aimlessly through her life, looking for something to rescue her and never quite knowing what that something might be. In the end, she wanders back to her husband, disconsolately, still unsure of her life and its intended direction. I didn't even find it much of a comedy of manners, and certainly nothing much happened to her (although it did to some of the other characters.)