Civil To Strangers by Barbara Pym

Civil To Strangers by Barbara Pym

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Summary

This volume includes an early novel and three novellas, which were discovered and published after Barbara Pym's death in 1980.

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Civil To Strangers by Barbara Pym

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new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen' Philip Larkin When Barbara Pym died in 1980, she left a considerable amount of unpublished material. This volume contains an early novel, Civil to Strangers, three novellas and an autobiographical essay, 'Finding a Voice', Pym's only written comment on her writing career. In Civil to Strangers, the lives of a young couple, Cassandra Marsh-Gibbon and her self-absorbed writer husband Adam, are thrown into upheaval when a mysterious Hungarian arrives in their village. 'A sublime social comedy . . . It exists inside the Pym Eden of safety, silliness and a kind of subdued hilarity. Look out for one of her best curates - the starchy, spinster-dodging Mr Paladin - and a typically deliciously insensitive vicar' KATE SAUNDERS, THE TIMES 'Brilliant, hilarious, poignant and so very, very English' TIME
I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym -- Richard Osman
I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen -- Philip Larkin
A sublime social comedy. . It exists inside the Pym Eden of safety, silliness and a kind of subdued hilarity. Look out for one of her best curates - the starchy, spinster-dodging Mr Paladin - and a typically deliciously insensitive vicar -- KATE SAUNDERS * THE TIMES *
Brilliant, hilarious, poignant and so very, very English * TIME *
Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life -- ANNE TYLER
Barbara Pym (1913-1980) was born in Oswestry, Shropshire. She was educated at Huyton College, Liverpool, and St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she gained an Honours Degree in English Language and Literature. From 1958-1974, she worked as an editorial secretary at the International African Institute. Her first novel, Some Tame Gazelle, was published in 1950, and was followed by Excellent Women (1952), Jane and Prudence (1953), Less than Angels (1955), A Glass of Blessings (1958) and No Fond Return of Love (1961). During the sixties and early seventies her writing suffered a partial eclipse and, discouraged, she concentrated on her work for the Institute, from which she retired in 1974 to live in Oxfordshire. A renaissance in her fortunes came in 1977, when both Philip Larkin and Lord David Cecil chose her as one of the most underrated novelists of the century. With astonishing speed, she emerged, after sixteen years of obscurity, to almost instant fame and recognition. Quartet in Autumn was published in 1977 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The Sweet Dove Died followed in 1978, and A Few Green Leaves was published posthumously. Barbara Pym died in January 1980.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780349016146
ISBN 10 0349016143
Title Civil To Strangers
Author Barbara Pym
Series Virago Modern Classics
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Year published 2022-06-02
Number of pages 400
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.