The Sweet Dove Died

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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 Pym substantially rewrote it after her friend Philip Larkin suggested improvements. It was not, however, published until after her "comeback" of the late 1970s.
The plot is generally believed to have been inspired by Pym's brief romance with an American antique dealer, Richard Roberts, known to his friends as "Skipper".