Author of the Month: Barbara Pym
Selected by the Bookshop
Our Author of the Month for June is Barbara Pym. Oddly neglected for most of her life – her first novel, Some Tame Gazelle, was rejected by several publishers before finding a home at Jonathan Cape – she was triumphantly rediscovered shortly before her death, when she was the only living author named twice in the TLS’s round up of the most underrated writers of the past 75 years. Philip Larkin wrote of her: ‘I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen.’
Wry, comic, sad and astoundingly insightful, her fiction reminds us above all of how extraordinary ordinary lives can be. To celebrate her achievements, Virago have reissued nine of her novels in stunning new livery.
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ RICHARD OSMANMildred Lathbury is one of those excellent women who are often taken for granted. She is a godsend, ‘capable of dealing with most of…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY JILLY COOPER‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ RICHARD OSMAN‘Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life’ ANNE TYLERIf Jane Cleveland and…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY MAVIS CHEEK‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ Richard Osman‘She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life’ Anne TylerTogether yet alone, the Misses…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY KATE SAUNDERS‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ RICHARD OSMAN‘My favourite writer . . . I pick up her books with joy’ JILLY COOPERIn a provincial university town, Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY SALLEY VICKERS‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ RICHARD OSMAN‘She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heart-breaking silliness of everyday life’ ANNE TYLERCatherine Oliphant…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY HAZEL HOLT‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ Richard Osman‘I’d sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen’ Philip LarkinWhen Barbara Pym died in 1980, she left a considerable amount…
From the publisher:
WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY CLARE CHAMBERS‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ RICHARD OSMAN‘The subtlest of her books . . . the sparkle on first acquaintance has been succeeded by the deeper brilliance of established…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY LOUIS DE BERNIERES‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ RICHARD OSMAN‘I’d sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen’ PHILIP LARKINFormidable Miss Doggett fills her life by giving tea…
From the publisher:
INTRODUCED BY PAUL BINDING‘I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ Richard Osman‘I’d sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen’ Philip LarkinDulcie Mainwaring is always helping others, but never looks…
From the publisher:
With an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.One did not drink sherry before the evening, just as one did not read a novel in the morning.In 1970s London, Edwin, Norman, Letty and…
From the publisher:
‘Captures both Barbara and her writing so miraculously’ JILLY COOPERPicked as a Book to Look Forward to in 2021 by the Guardian, The Times and the ObserverA Radio 4 Book of the Week, April 2021Barbara Pym…
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