Quartet in Autumn

Edwin, Norman, Letty and Marcia’s chief point of contact, at least until the two women retire, is that they work in the same office. Lovingly and poignantly, satirically in the gentlest but sharpest way, Pym conducts us through their small lives and the facades they erect to defend themselves against the outside world. She also imbues an obstinate optimism in her characters, allowing them, in their different ways, to win through to a kind of hope.