Wrapping Up Pym Reading Week with a Giveaway

It's been a wonderful week for Barbara Pym fans! I've decided to end Barbara Pym Reading Week by giving away my gently read copy of Some Tame Gazelle.

Please leave a comment by 12 noon EDT Wednesday June 12 if you'd like to enter. Be sure to include an email address. I will ship anywhere.

Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym

Some Tame Gazelle
by Barbara Pym
254 pages
first published in 1950
source: personal copy

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
It was odd that Harriet should always have been so fond of curates. They were so immature and always made the same kind of conversation. Now the Archdeacon was altogether different . . . ' Together yet alone, the Misses Bede occupy the central crossroads of parish life. Harriet, plump, elegant and jolly, likes nothing better than to make a fuss of new curates, secure in the knowledge that elderly Italian Count Ricardo Bianco will propose to her yet again this year. Belinda, meanwhile has harboured sober feelings of devotion towards Archdeacon Hochleve for thirty years. Then into their quiet, comfortable lives comes a famous librarian, Nathaniel Mold, and a bishop from Africa, Theodore Grote - who each take to calling on the sisters for rather more unsettling reasons.

My thoughts:
Barbara Pym's first published novel sets the stage for most of her later work. Her world is filled with middle-aged spinsters, church life, English villages, and the clergy. Pym is a keen observer of everyday life and presents it with quiet humor and dry wit.

As usual, she drew me in for the opening paragraph:

The new curate seemed quite a nice young man, but what a pity it was that his combinations showed, tucked carelessly into his socks, when he sat down. Belinda had noticed it when they had met him for the first time at the vicarage last week and had felt quite embarrassed. Perhaps Harriet could say something to him about it. Her blunt jolly manner could carry off these little awkwardnesses much better than Belinda's timidity. Of course he might think it none of their business, as indeed it was not, but Belinda rather doubted whether he thought at all, if one were to judge by the quality of his first sermon.

Pym always seems to include a few thoughts on fashion:

'Besides, high heels are definitely the fashion now.'
'Yes, I suppose they are,' agreed Belinda, for Harriet always knew things like that. And yet, she thought, at our age, surely all that was necessary was to dress suitably and if possible in good taste, without really thinking of fashion? With the years one ought to have grown beyond such thoughts but somehow one never did, and Belinda set out for the afternoon conscious that she was wearing dowdy shoes. (p.26)

And reflection on life in general:

Belinda put down her knitting and sat dreaming. Of course there was a certain pleasure in not doing something; it was impossible that one's high expectations should be disappointed by the reality. (p.84) 

'It's no use being sentimental about things,' said Harriet. 'You shouldn't keep a clutter of clothes you never wear just because you once liked them.'
Belinda made no comment on this, for she was thinking that Harriet's words might be applied to more serious things than clothes. If only one could clear out one's mind and heart as ruthlessly as one did one's wardrobe... (p. 221)

Food often takes center stage in Pym's world. Curates are invited to dinner, churches hold teas and bazaars, and menus require a good deal of discussion. In fact, there is even a Barbara Pym Cookbook.

Some Tame Gazelle  will forever stand out in my mind as the novel with the "cauliflower cheese incident".  In honor of Barbara Pym Reading Week, I experimented with my own version of a cauliflower cheese, but it turned out to be more of a baked cauliflower casserole. Probably not what the Misses Bede served to their seamstress...

I always enjoy time spent with Barbara Pym's novels. They have become my ideal comfort read, especially when served with a cup of tea.

Some tame gazelle, or some gentle dove:

Something to love, oh, something to love!

Tuesday Intro: A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym

On the Sunday after Easter - Low Sunday, Emma believed it was called - the villagers were permitted to walk in the park and woods surrounding the manor. She had not been sure whether to come on the walk or not. It was her first weekend in the village , and she had been planning to observe the inhabitants in the time-honoured manner from behind the shadow of her curtains. But seeing the party assembling outside the pub, wearing tweeds and sensible shoes and some carrying walking-sticks, she had been unable to resist the temptation of joining in.

A Few Green Leaves
by Barbara Pym

It's Pym Reading Week, co-hosted by Thomas and Amanda, and I have just begun A Few Green Leaves, Pym's last novel. I hadn't planned on reading another Pym so soon, but this first paragraph seems irresistible to me. What do you think?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

It's Pym Week, What are You Reading?

I will be starting A Few Green Leaves (Pym's last novel), as well as A Lot to Ask: A Life of Barbara Pym by Hazel Holt. What are you planning to read this week?

Pym Reading Week is co-hosted by Thomas and Amanda. Be sure to visit their blogs for the all latest info and links.

Tuesday Intro: Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym

The new curate seemed quite a nice young man, but what a pity it was that his combinations showed, tucked carelessly into his socks, when he sat down. Belinda had noticed it when they had met him for the first time at the vicarage last week and had felt quite embarrassed. Perhaps Harriet could say something to him about it. Her blunt jolly manner could carry off these little awkwardnesses much better than Belinda's timidity. Of course he might think it none of their business, as indeed it was not, but Belinda rather doubted whether he thought at all, if one were to judge by the quality of his first sermon.

Some Tame Gazelle
by Barbara Pym

Some Tame Gazelle, published in 1950, is Barbara Pym's first novel and I think the opening paragraph is very representative of her style. It says pure comfort reading to me. Would you continue?

Have you read Barbara Pym?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym

A Glass of Blessings
by Barbara Pym
originally published, 1958
Open Road Media e-book, 2013
source: publisher via NetGalley

Book description (from publisher):

Barbara Pym’s early novel takes us into 1950s England, where life revolved around the village green and the local church—as seen through the funny, engaging, yearning eyes of a restless housewife.

Wilmet Forsyth is bored. Bored with the everyday routine of her provincial village life. Bored with teatimes filled with local gossip. Bored with her husband, Rodney, a military man who dotes on her. But on her thirty-third birthday, Wilmet’s conventional life takes a turn when she runs into the handsome brother of her close friend.

Attractive and enigmatic, Piers Longridge is a mystery Wilmet is determined to solve. Rather than settling down, he lived in Portugal, then returned to England for a series of odd jobs. Driven by a fantasy of romance, the sheltered, naïve Englishwoman sets out to seduce Piers—only to discover that he isn’t the man she thinks he is.

As cozy as sharing a cup of tea with an old friend, A Glass of Blessings explores timeless themes of sex, marriage, religion, and friendship while exposing our flaws and foibles with wit, compassion, and a generous helping of love.

My thoughts:

"Oh Wilmet, life is perfect now! I've got everything that I could possibly want. I keep thinking that it's like a glass of blessings - life, I mean..." 

"That comes from a poem by George Herbert, doesn't it?" I said. 'When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by ..."

 "But don't forget that other line ... how when all the other blessing had been bestowed, rest lay in the bottom of the glass..."  (loc 3996)

Barbara Pym novels have been my "comfort read" of choice for several years. After all, what could be more cozy than life revolving around tea drinking and church activities in a quaint English village? When Open Road Media asked if I'd like to review their recently released e-book of A Glass of Blessings, I jumped at the chance.

From the opening paragraph, I was transported to familiar Pymsian surroundings and settled in to enjoy my visit. Before long, however, it became apparent that this story might be something a little different. Pym's characters in A Glass of Blessings display the expected entertaining array of human foibles, but Wilmet Forsyth is deeper and more complex than other Pym heroines. She is immensely likable, yet I often found myself growing frustrated with her. Over the course of the novel, Wilmet gains significant personal insights that eventually allow her to forge stronger relationships with both family and friends.

A Glass of Blessings is my fourth, and new favorite, Barbara Pym novel, but I imagine some aspects must have shocked her readers in 1958. Kudos to Open Road Media for releasing the ebooks in time for Barbara Pym's Centenary and making her work available to a new generation of readers.

My rating:

The Pulley
by George Herbert

 When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
   "Let us," said he, "pour on him all we can.
Let the world's riches, which disperséd lie,
   Contract into a span."

   So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honor, pleasure.
   When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure,
   Rest in the bottom lay.

   "For if I should," said he,
"Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
   He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;
   So both should losers be.

   "Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness.
   Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
   May toss him to my breast."

Tuesday Intro: A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym

"I suppose it must have been the shock of hearing the telephone ring, apparently in the church, that made me turn my head and see Piers Longridge in one of the side aisles behind me. It sounded shrill and particularly urgent against the music of the organ, and it was probably because I had never before heard a telephone ringing in church that my thoughts were immediately distracted, so that I found myself wondering where it could be and whether anyone would answer it. I imagined the little bent woman in the peacock blue hat who acted as verger going into the vestry and picking up the receiver gingerly, if only to put an end to the loud unsuitable ringing. She might say that Father Thames was engaged at the moment and not available; but surely the caller ought to have known that, for it was St. Luke's day, the patronal festival of the church, and this lunchtime Mass was one of the services held for people who worked in the offices near by or perhaps for the idle ones like myself who had been too lazy to get up for an earlier service."

A Glass of Blessings
by Barbara Pym

With a style immediately recognizable as Barbara Pym, I quickly settled into her 1958 novel, A Glass of Blessings. Open Road Media recently released several of Pym's novels in ebook format to celebrate her upcoming centenary. I received a review copy through NetGalley.

Have you read Barbara Pym? What do you think of this intro?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym

Frustration following the Great Blogger Debacle has subsided, but  I'm not up to recreating the vanished review of Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym. Still, it should not go unmentioned.

Jane and Prudence are unlikely friends. Jane is ten years older, unfashionable, incompetent in her role as vicar's wife, and totally inept at homemaking. Prudence, a single, very fashionable, working woman living in the city, is famous for her string of unsuitable boyfriends. When Jane's husband accepts a position in a rural parish, she sets out to find the perfect mate for her friend. As you may guess, Jane's matchmaking skills are not quite up to par either.

The novel, centered around domestic/parish life, steeped in English culture and values of the time, and featuring plenty of tea drinking, was exactly what I have come to expect from Barbara Pym. This cozy, relaxing read provided the perfect beginning for my recent Florida vacation. I only wished I'd packed Some Tame Gazelle, too.

Giveaway reminder: 
Pym's novels can be difficult to find here in the United States. I'm giving away my gently read copy of Jane and Prudence on Sunday. If you're interested, leave me a comment here.

Quote of the Week: Jane and Prudence

"Oh, but it was splendid the things women were doing for men all the time, thought Jane.  Making them feel, perhaps sometimes by no more than a casual glance, that they were loved and admired and desired when they were worthy of none of these things - enabling them to preen themselves and puff out their plumage like birds and bask in the sunshine of love, real or imagined, it didn't matter which."

Jane and Prudence
by Barbara Pym
page 76


Reading a Barbara Pym novel is the perfect reward after a long, hard day.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Excellent Women
by Barbara Pym, 1952
published by Plume
256 pages

source: my shelves

motivation for reading: Virago Reading Week and The TBR Dare

In a nutshell:
Mildred Lathbury, clergyman's daughter, thirty-something spinster in 1950's England, and 'excellent woman' often taken for granted, finds herself in the middle of her new neighbors marital crisis, as well as a church upheaval.

My thoughts:
The front cover says "Written with the wit and style if a twentieth-century Jane Austen" and I can't help but agree.  Excellent Women, told in the first person by Mildred Lathbury, seems to suggest this comparison from the opening page:

"I suppose an unmarried woman just over thirty, who loves alone and has no apparent ties, must expect to find herself involved or interested in other people's business, and if she is also a clergyman's daughter then one might really say there is no hope for her."

Quartet in Autumn is my only previous experience with Pym, but I was again treated to a wonderfully English-feeling novel. The effects of the war are still visible - a badly bombed church is only half-usable, housing shortages remain and (hard for me to imagine from my 21st century comfort) total strangers are required to share bathrooms.  Meat supply seems scarce and tea-drinking occurs every few pages.

Mildred is an extremely perceptive woman, and much of her life is based on appropriateness, capability, and manners. It's a rather quiet life caring for 'gentlewomen' in the morning, attending various church services, and taking part in nearly all day-to-day church activities. Life takes an interesting turn as Mildred becomes involved in the lives, and marital crisis, of her glamorous new neighbors, the Napiers. Helena is a  beautiful anthropologist lacking domestic skills, while Rockingham, or 'Rocky',  is a handsome, engaging officer recently returned from Italy. Through the Napiers, Mildred is also introduced to the unmarried Everard Bone, Helen's research partner.

Church life is shaken up when Allegra Gray, a stylish clergyman's widow, takes a room at the vicarage where (single) Father Julian Malory presides while being looked after by his sister Winifred (also an 'excellent' woman). Mildred's character unfolds as she interacts with all these people.

Although there are some very funny moments, the poignant episodes seemed to stand out, leaving me with a overall bittersweet feeling.

A few examples:

'You know Mildred would never do anything wrong or foolish' I reflected a little sadly that this was only too true and hoped I did not appear too much that kind of person to others. Virtue is an excellent thing and we should all strive after it, but it can sometimes be a little depressing.  (page 44)

On the bus I began thinking that William had been right and I was annoyed to have to admit it. Mimosa did lose its freshness to quick to be worth buying and I must not allow myself to have feelings, but must only observe the effects of other people's. (page 76)

It was not the excellent women who got married but people like Allegra Gray, who was no good at sewing, and Helena Napier, who left all the washing up. 'I can't change now. I'm afraid it's too late.' I felt it would not sound very convincing if I said that I hadn't really wanted to marry Julian Malory. I was obviously regarded in the parish as the chief of the rejected ones and I must fill the position with as much dignity as I could.  (page 170)

So did he remember me like that after all - a woman who was always making cups of tea. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now but to make one. (page 222)

After turning the last page, I wanted nothing more than to begin another Barbara Pym novel.

My rating:

Bottom line: A wonderfully perceptive English novel by an author I will be reading much more of... especially recommended to those who enjoy quiet, character-driven novels.

Virago Reading Week is hosted by Rachel and Carolyn.

TSS: Barbara Pym, Virago Reading Week, and The TBR Dare

Good morning, and welcome to another Sunday Salon. It's a bitterly cold morning with temperatures hovering around zero, and forecast to stay here all day. There's a fire in the fireplace and coffee in my mug, and I'm ready to talk about books.

Yesterday I finished Excellent Women by Barbara Pym - what a wonderful novel! Sad, yet funny, and so real.  That nearly ended the TBR Dare too, but I resisted the urge to run to the bookstore and start another Pym immediately. I am determined to succeed and will wait until April 1!  Quartet in Autumn was my first Pym, and I received recommendations on twitter yesterday for Jane and Prudence and An Unsuitable Attachment. Are there other titles you would suggest?  I can feel a Pym binge (hmm, that sounds like it should be an event) coming in April...

Speaking of the TBR Dare, I'm thinking of giving myself permission to acquire one new book for every two (or maybe three) read from my collection. I needed some extra motivation NOT to buy every Pym title in sight yesterday and this seemed to satisfy me.  In addition to Pym, the next book to purchase may be The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. Bloggers seem to love this, but Lynne's review convinced me that I NEED to read it. Amazon has also named it one January's best books.

There was a moment this week, however, when I was actually grateful for the TBR Dare.  You know I love a good readalong, right? Well, Jill is at it again. This time it's Jousting with Joyce, a Ulysses readalong, and I have an easy, automatic excuse. Thank God there's not a copy on my shelf!

Finally... Virago Reading Week, hosted by Rachel and Carolyn, begins tomorrow!  My review of Excellent Women will be posted during the week and today I will decide on another title to read. Carolyn has posted the complete list here. Possible choices for me include several books by Willa Cather, Elizabeth von Arnim's Elizabeth and Her German Garden, The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty, and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. We'll see which one strikes me this afternoon. Will you be reading Viragos this week, too?  Which titles have you chosen?