Barbara Pym

A tale of a woman’s romantic entanglements with two anthropologists—and the odd mating habits of humans—from the author of Jane and Prudence.
Catherine Oliphant writes for women’s magazines and lives comfortably with anthropologist Tom Mallow—although she’s starting to wonder if they’ll ever get married. Then Tom drops his bombshell: He’s leaving her for a nineteen-year-old student....

Barbara Pym's first novel offers a self-assured slice of village life as it takes us into the lives of two sisters living in post–World War II England Belinda and Harriet Bede live together in a small English village. Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with Henry Hoccleve-the poetry-spouting, married archdeacon of their church-for thirty years. Belinda's much more confident, forthright younger sister Harriet, meanwhile, is ardently...

Three lonely people come together in this poignant and witty novel of thwarted dreams, scandalous secrets, and star-crossed romance. After being jilted by her fiancé, Dulcie Mainwaring despairs of ever finding true love. For a distraction, she goes to a publishing conference, where she meets Viola Dace, a dramatic woman who refuses to live without romance, as well as Aylwin Forbes, an editor whom Viola adores. The fact that Aylwin is married doesn't...

Crampton Hodnet is an uproarious tale of hapless flirtations between eminently mismatched men and women with assorted ties to Oxford. there's a middle-aged professor who grows amorous in the presence of a beautiful senior scholar, much to everyone's amusement (including his wife's). Meanwhile, a resolute young curate woos a kind but decidedly reluctant spinster. To the right and left, amusing asides take place among the university's self-important...

Two literary romantic novels from the New York Times–bestselling author of Excellent Women. Less Than Angels: In a story that explores the mating habits of humans, magazine writer Catherine Oliphant lives comfortably with anthropologist Tom Mallow-until he announces he's leaving her for a nineteen-year-old student. Though stunned by the betrayal, Catherine becomes fascinated by another anthropologist: a reclusive eccentric recently returned from...