A charming and funny tale of match-making misadventures by an author whose fans include Philip Larkin, Alexander McCall Smith and Jilly Cooper.
The setting of this very funny novel, one of Barbara Pym's earliest, is an English village where Jane's husband is the newly appointed vicar, and where Prudence will pay Jane a visit and find herself courted by a fatuous young widower. Prudence, at twenty-nine, has achieved nothing in life but a dull research job in London and a string of dud affairs; Jane, now in her forties, was Prudence's tutor at Oxford. Jane cheerfully concedes that she is an incompetent housewife, but she hopes that the move to a rural parish may transform her into a Trollopean vicar's wife, as well as a crafty matchmaker.
She's such a wonderful writer and has given me so much pleasure . . . My favourite of all is JANE AND PRUDENCE. It's just brilliant - Jilly Cooper
I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen - Philip Larkin
There is a thrill of humanity through all her work - Shirley Hazzard
She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life - Anne Tyler
She's such a wonderful writer and has given me so much pleasure . . . My favourite of all is JANE AND PRUDENCE. It's just brilliant - Jilly Cooper
I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen - Philip Larkin
There is a thrill of humanity through all her work - Shirley Hazzard
She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life - Anne Tyler
Barbara Pym (1913-80) was born in Shropshire and educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. When in 1977 the TLS asked critics to name the most underrated authors of the past 75 years, only one was named twice (by Philip Larkin and Lord David Cecil): Barbara Pym. Her novels are characterised by what Anne Tyler has called 'the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life'.
Author Location: deceased
No Fond Return of Love; Excellent Women; Some Tame Gazelle; A Glass of Blessings