Barbara Pym

The Sweet Dove Died is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1978. The title is a quotation from a poem, "I Had a Dove", by John Keats. The novel was begun during the 1960s, after Pym's previous novel, An Unsuitable Attachment, had been rejected by several publishers. The Sweet Dove Died was also rejected, and …

Some Tame Gazelle is Barbara Pym's first novel, originally published in 1950. It is considered a remarkable first novel, because of the way in which the youthful Pym - who began the book while a student at Oxford before the Second World War - imagined herself into the situation of a middle-aged spinster, living with …

Quartet in Autumn is a novel by British novelist Barbara Pym, first published in 1977. It was highly praised and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the top literary prize in the UK. This was considered a comeback novel for Pym; she had fallen out of favor as styles changed, and her work had been rejected by publishers …

Three lonely people come together in this poignant, witty novel of star-crossed romance from the New York Times–bestselling author of Jane and Prudence.After being jilted by her fiancé, Dulcie Mainwaring despairs of ever finding true love. For a distraction, she goes to a publishing conference, where she meets Viola …

Less Than Angels is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1955. The novel is largely concerned with the activities of a group of anthropologists, and is to some extent based on the author's own experiences working at the African Institute in London. It is set in a period of social change which is subtly …

This early novel by Barbara Pym captures the charm and folly of English middle-class life. The two title characters share a devoted friendship based on memories of Oxford school days, poetry and their neighbors' private affairs- all discussed over leisurely lunches. And they share a common goal: finding a suitable …