Barbara Pym

Barbara Pym is my favourite author.  She is not hugely read, and has not produced a large body of work, but what has been published is gentle, soothing literature.

Her stories are more about character than plot, indeed the first book I read, Excellent Women (1952) left me asking ‘what was that?’.  There was no real story to follow, nothing really that could fill a novel.  But it was so beautiful to read.  I picked her up again a few years later, to see if there was more to see.  Jane and Prudence (1953) was next, quickly followed by Some Tame Gazelle (1950) and then No Fond Return of Love (1961), all read in quick succession.  The characters, all exploring the relationships between men and women, religion and the ridiculousness of people and everyday life, became one large cast in my mind.  Each heroine reflected aspects of the time, all a little self-absorbed, all a little selfish.  Like real women.

Some Tame Gazelle was my favourite for some time, but then I read A Glass Of Blessings (1958).  These two are, in my view, the most humorous of Pym’s work, and the most claustrophobic.  They both comment on Anglicanism, with C of E clergy and curates featuring strongly.  They ask, what role does the clergy fill for women, and how do women use the clergy?  They are safe relationships, where the married and unmarried heroines can indulge themselves in obsession which isn’t permitted in the secular world.

For my purposes I do not feel that I have the ability to write a story with no plot.  Pretty prose can be achieved, but weaving together characterisation in an effective and affective way, perhaps not.  But the era in which they have been written, post war, post rationing England, is very appealing to me.  I like the green and pleasant land ideal very much.  The sheer Britishness of it all.  But maybe I am just feeling the effect of the Jubilee.   All the flag waving has worn off on me and I am subconsciously yearning for the start of Her Majesty’s reign.