Excellent Women

I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym

I pick up her books with joy, as though I were meeting an old, dear friend who comforts me, extends my vision and makes me roar with laughter

One of the finest examples of high comedy

One of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century

I don't think I've ever before recommended a novel as one that everybody will enjoy and yet - even with a certain assurance - I'm prepared to vouch for Excellent Women

Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life

Why shouldn't the lives of cardigan-wearing spinsters and fussy confirmed bachelors be the engines of some of the finest comic writing in English? Not only was Pym a comic genius but she was ever so wise