Barbara Pym’s compassionate and funny novel about four people in late middle-age with different eccentricities but the same problem: loneliness
Barbara Pym
Barbara Pym was born in Oswestry, England. She was acclaimed as ‘the most underrated writer of the century’ by Philip Larkin
A writer from the age of 16, Pym’s substantial reputation evolved through the publication of six novels from 1950 to 1961. She resumed writing in 1977 with the publication of Quartet in Autumn, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 1977 - the year when Philip Larkin was chair of the judges - and went on to write two more novels. She died in 1980. Several other works were published posthumously.
Author photo © Mayotte Magnus
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Reading guide: Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
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An extract from Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
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