Jane e Prudence

Another hilarious and satirical look at Barbara Pym’s world. It reminds me so much of Wodehouse, dated and quaint yet somehow a world I wish we could all still inhabit. Where a relationship was broken by a letter, where a meal out with a man caused serious gossip for villagers, where a woman’s unmar Leggi tutto

This is the first book I've read by Pym and on that basis alone, I will say she is in the tradition of Jane Austen (the main character's Emma Woodhouse comment acknowledges this), Trollope (whom the character Jane is a reader of) and even Gaskell's Cranford . While reading, I also couldn't help but c Leggi tutto

What a delight! My second Barbara Pym, and I have decided to read one of her books at least once a year. She is a breath of fresh air. This story could be seen as just a light romp with some very amusing company. It was that. We have Jane, a bluestocking turned vicar’s wife. “I should have liked the k Leggi tutto

The bio of Pym on the back of my copy of Jane and Prudence accuses her of writing primarily about "Anglican spinsters." The phrase itself seems like it's from another age, and so does Pym's novel about middle class British women making their way through the immediate postwar years. Pym's women are i Leggi tutto

Pym writes loneliness, the urban/modern condition, and humanity’s oft mistaken attempts at communication and companionship very well. Given that her characters are generally overlooked middle-aged people clinging quietly but desperately to a pretense of gentility, one might assume her stories are un Leggi tutto

Once I accepted that Pym world is the Waspy-ist of Wasplands circa the 1950's, where the only conceivable 'others' are Catholics, I settled in and had a fabulous time. I didn't read the publisher's description, so somehow I had it in my head that Jane and Prudence were both Elizabeth Bennett types.

Thank goodness for Barbara Pym. She is another comfort read. That world of High Church vs. Low Church... and somewhere in between, church decorating, anthropology, delicious food descriptions, and the cynical observations of the relationships between men and women. Always a pleasure to dive into a P Leggi tutto

Another goodie by Ms. Pym! I do like this type of book, its not action packed but rather focuses on the characters. It's like a slice of life about 10 years post WWII in England. It's full of people you know and situations you've encountered, from the coworkers, friends, lovers and spouses. We've al Leggi tutto

Sigh... on one hand I didn't want this to end and on the other hand, I couldn't put it down! I am so glad to have met Barbara Pym! I shall be reading more of her books! Gentle, delightful, witty, lovely! Written in the 1950's about life in a British village in the 1950's-- about a friendship between Leggi tutto

[3.5] A very good example of the kind of thing it is - genteel, slightly humourous story of 1950s ladies - but it's not quite my kind of thing. I'd suspected this is what Barbara Pym - and also the entire output of blog-favourite boutique publisher Persephone Books - would be like, whilst faintly ho Leggi tutto