{"title":"Barbara Pym","description":"\u003cp\u003eBarbara Pym, a beloved British author, is celebrated for her keen observations of everyday life and social nuances. Her novels often explore the quiet intricacies of village and urban life, filled with wit, humour, and poignant insight into human relationships. Pym's work captures the subtleties of interpersonal dynamics with a warmth and humour that have endeared her to readers worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmong her most cherished works is \u003cem\u003eExcellent Women\u003c\/em\u003e, a novel offering a glimpse into the lives of highly perceptive yet overlooked women. Similarly, \u003cem\u003eA Glass of Blessings\u003c\/em\u003e reflects Pym's talent for depicting the understated dramas of middle-class London life. Books such as \u003cem\u003eJane and Prudence\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eLess Than Angels\u003c\/em\u003e further showcase her ability to blend comedy with astute social commentary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePym's novels, including posthumously published works like \u003cem\u003eAn Academic Question\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCivil to Strangers\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eCrampton Hodnet\u003c\/em\u003e, remain timeless favourites. Her first published novel, \u003cem\u003eSome Tame Gazelle\u003c\/em\u003e, introduces readers to her distinctive narrative style and warm character portrayals, a quality that continued to define her subsequent works.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeloved for their charm and authenticity, Barbara Pym's novels in the \u003cstrong\u003eGeneral Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e category are perfect for readers who appreciate a blend of wit, character-driven stories, and an evocative portrayal of mid-20th century British life.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"excellent-women-by-barbara-pym-9780349016078","title":"Excellent Women","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eINTRODUCED BY ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' - RICHARD OSMAN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMildred Lathbury is one of those excellent women who are often taken for granted. She is a godsend, 'capable of dealing with most of the stock situations or even the great moments of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sale, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, seem to be facing a marital crisis. One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially as Mildred has a soft spot for dashing young Rockingham Napier. This is \u003cem\u003eBarbara Pym's\u003c\/em\u003e world at its funniest and most touching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'One of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century' - ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life' - ANNE TYLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Not only was Pym a comic genius but she was ever so wise' - \u003cem\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46414306640108,"sku":"9780349016078","price":26.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6614303482312.jpg?v=1746330005"},{"product_id":"a-glass-of-blessings-by-barbara-pym-9780349016122","title":"A Glass Of Blessings","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eBy the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestselling Author\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003eWith a New Introduction by Clare Chambers\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003e'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' - Richard Osman\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003e'My favourite writer... I pick up her books with joy, as though I were meeting an old, dear friend' - Jilly Cooper\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003e'The subtlest of her books... the sparkle on first acquaintance has been succeeded by the deeper brilliance of established art' - Philip Larkin\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWilmet Forsyth is well dressed, well looked after, suitably husbanded, good-looking and fairly young – but very bored. Her staid husband Rodney, a civil servant, is slightly balder and fatter than he once was. Wilmet would like to think she has changed rather less.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer conventional life takes a turn when she meets the handsome brother of a close friend. Attractive, cultured and attentive, Piers Longridge is a delectable mystery Wilmet is determined to solve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46710403662060,"sku":"9780349016122","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6614743482312.jpg?v=1754139491"},{"product_id":"an-academic-question-by-barbara-pym-9780349016320","title":"An Academic Question","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eINTRODUCED BY KATE SAUNDERS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' RICHARD OSMAN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'My favourite writer . . . I pick up her books with joy' JILLY COOPER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Beneath the gentle surfaces of her novels is a slow-building comedy, salt wit in a saline drip' \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a provincial university town, Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied faculty wife, becomes the unwilling accomplice to her husband Alan's ambitions. When she volunteers to read to a blind, esteemed anthropologist in a nursing home, Alan seizes the opportunity to steal his papers—research that could both advance his reputation while refuting the findings of a respected colleague.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA delightful comedy of manners with a touch of mystery, \u003ci\u003eAn Academic Question\u003c\/i\u003e is prime Barbara Pym territory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46710456549612,"sku":"9780349016320","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6616723482312.jpg?v=1754149116"},{"product_id":"civil-to-strangers-by-barbara-pym-9780349016146","title":"Civil To Strangers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eINTRODUCED BY HAZEL HOLT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' — Richard Osman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen' — Philip Larkin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Barbara Pym died in 1980, she left a considerable amount of unpublished material. This volume contains an early novel, \u003cem\u003eCivil to Strangers\u003c\/em\u003e, three novellas and an autobiographical essay, 'Finding a Voice', Pym's only written comment on her writing career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eCivil to Strangers\u003c\/em\u003e, the lives of a young couple, Cassandra Marsh-Gibbon and her self-absorbed writer husband Adam, are thrown into upheaval when a mysterious Hungarian arrives in their village.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A sublime social comedy . . . It exists inside the Pym Eden of safety, silliness and a kind of subdued hilarity. Look out for one of her best curates - the starchy, spinster-dodging Mr Paladin - and a typically deliciously insensitive vicar' KATE SAUNDERS, THE TIMES\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Brilliant, hilarious, poignant and so very, very English' TIME\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711143923948,"sku":"9780349016146","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6614983482312.jpg?v=1754189806"},{"product_id":"crampton-hodnet-by-barbara-pym-9780349016139","title":"Crampton Hodnet","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eINTRODUCED BY LOUIS DE BERNIERES\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' — RICHARD OSMAN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen' — PHILIP LARKIN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCrampton Hodnet\u003c\/em\u003e features the formidable Miss Doggett, who fills her life by hosting tea parties for young academics and acting as a watchdog for the morals of North Oxford. Anthea, her great-niece, is in love with a dashing undergraduate with political ambitions, a match Miss Doggett thoroughly approves of. However, Anthea's father, an Oxford don, is scandalously involved with a student — they have even been spotted together at the British Museum! Yet, the only liaison Miss Doggett remains blissfully unaware of is happening under her own roof: the lodger has proposed to Miss Morrow, her paid companion. She certainly wouldn't approve of that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Brilliant, hilarious and so very, very English' — DAILY MAIL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'My favourite writer . . . I pick up her books with joy' — JILLY COOPER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711166370028,"sku":"9780349016139","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6614913482312.jpg?v=1754196175"},{"product_id":"excellent-women-by-barbara-pym-9781844085262","title":"Excellent Women","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCover design by Orla Kiely\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMildred Lathbury is one of those \u003cem\u003eexcellent women\u003c\/em\u003e who is often taken for granted. She is a godsend, capable of dealing with most of the stock situations of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sales, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs such, though, she often gets herself embroiled in other people’s lives - and especially those of her glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, whose marriage seems to be on the rocks. One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially when Mildred, teetering on the edge of spinsterhood, has a soft spot for dashing young Rockingham Napier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is Barbara Pym's world at its funniest and most touching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711378510060,"sku":"9781844085262","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/15665863482844.jpg?v=1754218938"},{"product_id":"less-than-angels-by-barbara-pym-9780349016115","title":"Less Than Angels","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eINTRODUCED BY SALLEY VICKERS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' — RICHARD OSMAN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the \u003cb\u003eheart-breaking\u003c\/b\u003e silliness of everyday life' — ANNE TYLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLess Than Angels\u003c\/em\u003e introduces us to Catherine Oliphant, a writer who lives with the handsome anthropologist Tom Mallow. Their relationship encounters trouble when Tom begins a romance with student Deirdre Swann. In response, Catherine shifts her focus to the reclusive anthropologist Alaric Lydgate, known for his fondness for wearing African masks. Further complicating this love tangle are Deirdre's fellow students and their attempts to secure a research grant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe course of true love or academia never did run smooth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Her best [novels] are sheer delight, and all of them companionable. 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