The Sweet Dove Died (1978)

Pym is a dry, subtle, witty, kind writer. Her characters in this book are dreadful and ordinary and sympathetic.

I recommend reading other reviews of this book here on GR. ( )

There is something succulent in the late novels of Barbara Pym, like deliberately over-ripened fruit, or a haunch of game hung for an extended period. One feels that Pym knows her characters almost too well, and that she may not particularly like them. Yet she spends time with them, and invites us to do the same: slightly distasteful women, ambiguous and calculating men, vapid gentlewomen, and the ever-charming clergyman (here occurring only as a brief fellow train traveller sharing a table for tea). So how does Pym take a character one doesn’t particularly like, such as Leonora Eyre, and in the space of a single short chapter render her entirely sympathetic, even pitiable? Only exquisite mastery of her craft could explain Pym’s remarkable affect upon her reader.

The elegant Leonora is ageing more or less gracefully. She enjoys the attentions of men, both older and younger, whilst knowing how to keep restrictive commitment at bay. She may always know the right word or gesture, but like Henry James’ prose, which is alluded to, she can come across as cold. Of course that suits some English men perfectly, especially those who would be somewhat overwhelmed by a real passionate relation with a woman. Sexual relations, which are subtext in the early Pym novels, are rendered explicit here. However, they remain curiously unreal, no doubt because they were never Pym’s object. And that raises the question, what really is Pym’s object in this novel? The answer lies in the reading, and I suspect will change as you read it again and again. As I will. Always recommended. ( )

From the blurb - "Between the amorous antique dealer Humphrey and his good-looking nephew James glides the magnificent Leonora, delicate as porcelain, cool as ice. Can she keep James in her thrall? Or will he be taken from her by a lover, like Phoebe .... or Ned?"

This is the first of Pym's books that I've read, and her writing is beautifully subtle. The Sweet Dove Died is what I term a 'slice-of-life' story. The first half of the book in particular is very episodic, the short chapters serving to delineate the series of small, everyday events which occur in the lives of Leonora, James and Humphrey.

Being a slice-of-life book, there is only a vague plot. The story of life and it's little dramas creates the background for what is the real focus of the author, and strength of the book - the characters and their depictions. There is weak-willed and ineffectual James, on whom Leonora dotes, and selfish, amoral Ned. And Leonora herself.

Everyone believes Leonora to be the epitome of a well breed, elegant english lady. In reality she is cold and aloof, selfish and manipulative and the most horrible, judgemental snob who looks down her nose at pretty well everyone and everything. Leonora has a greater affintiy for her beautiful objects than she does for anything living.

Whilst the layered characters are the great strength of this story, they were also the crux of my problem with the book. Spineless James and selfish Ned got on my nerves. And for most of the book I simply could not like Leonora. It is only at the conclusion that a softer, more fragile side of Leonora is revealed and this, for me, was the saving of the book. It was also the revelation that helped to tie everything else together and I suddenly found myself having an 'aha!' moment.

The revelation of Leonora's fragility allows the reader to see her as the vulnerable older lady that she really is, and with the attempt to renew their friendship, the truth of the lines from Keats (referred to in the story and the books title) is revealed:

"I had a dove and the sweet dove died;
And I have thought it died of grieving
O, what could it grieve for? It's feet were tied
With a single thread of my own hand's weaving."

The poignancy on which the story ends, and the themes contained within this story gain their impact from those few lines of Keats'. It was only with the clarity provided by reflecting on these lines and the importance they have in relating the books overall themes, that I could look back at the story and find the author's intentions and view the characters in a different light. I also have to appreciate the skill of a writer who, within a few deftly written pages, takes me from intensely disliking a character to being very sympathetic towards her. ( )

Leonora Eyre is as delicate as any fussy feathered creature in a Keats poem. She has a desire to make everything perfect, as a matter of fact, she treasures lovely objects more than she does her fellow humans. When the 'cold pastoral' call goes out, or 'forlorn' is the warning, her ears are unhearing, she's right at home among the fussy birds or the greek receptacles. Though she does show when push comes to shove in the world of 'romance' a surprising capability to deal with a what can only be called a negative.
As usual clothes are important. The wrappage is never adventitious:

And now Ned was looking at her in a most curious way. His eyes moved from her face, down over her body and legs; even her feet did not escape his scrutiny. . . Ned's appraisal was completely lacking in sexuality or desire. But after a while Leonora realized what he was doing - simply calculating the cost of her clothes and everything about her, including her hairstyle, make-up, jewellery, and even her shoes.

We get a feel for Leonora with this next bit as much as anything else:

'Just give me a dutiful kiss,' said Leonara lightly.
He bent to kiss her cheek, his hands touching her stiffly lacquered hair, the feeling of which gave him a slight shock as if she were made of some brittle unreal substance. 'Darling,' he said, 'they're so beautiful. Did Humphrey go with you to buy them?'

Leonora had just given her young 'love interest' an expensive birthday present. I read this searching novel in one sitting. For a slow reader like myself, I'll often read several pages aloud, this should tell you something. If you are slow on the up-take, what I'm telling you is that there is much pleasure in the reading of THE SWEET DOVE DIED. ( )

Among Pym's oeuvre this novel is my personal favorite with its richly drawn characters including Leonora Eyre, an attractive and elegant, but essentially selfish, middle-aged woman. She becomes friendly with antique dealer Humphrey Boyce and his nephew James. Both men are attracted to Leonora, but Leonora prefers the young, good-looking James to the more "suitable" Humphrey. While James is away on a buying trip, Leonora discovers to her annoyance that he has been seeing Phoebe, a girl of his o...more Among Pym's oeuvre this novel is my personal favorite with its rich characters including Leonora Eyre, an attractive and elegant, but essentially selfish, middle-aged woman. She becomes friendly with antique dealer Humphrey Boyce and his nephew James. Both men are attracted to Leonora, but Leonora prefers the young, good-looking James to the more "suitable" Humphrey. While James is away on a buying trip, Leonora discovers to her annoyance that he has been seeing Phoebe, a girl of his own age. Leonora makes use of Humphrey to humiliate Phoebe, and turns out a sitting tenant in order that James can take up a flat in her own house. She does this in an apparent attempt to control his life. While abroad, the bisexual James has begun a relationship with an American, the amoral Ned, who later follows him to London. Ned pries James out of Leonora's grasp, only to reject him for another lover. James attempts a reconciliation with Leonora, but she refuses to give him a second opportunity to hurt her, and settles for the admiration of the less attractive Humphrey. As with all Pym's fiction, the novel contains many literary references, notably to works by Keats, John Milton and Henry James. ( )