Social dimensions in the novels of Barbara Pym, 1949-1963 : the writer as hidden observer

Barbara Pym's novels still evoke a slightly apologetic defense by her admirers. Those of us who engage in scholarship on her works feel that we must explain who she is, usually employing terms such as "quintessentially English" to describe an author of the 1950s, writing novels of a quaint, charming, domestic nature. When the sea-change of the 1960s sent her novels out of print, she was unable show more to publish again until 1977, when her later novels (three only, as she died shortly thereafter) were brought out. So much of her history must be explained, to set her in context. For those who shudder at the prospect of quiet, domestic novels, the enthusiastic reader... show less

Orna Raz ... has written a very good book indeed. In addition to her thorough use of the Pym papers in the Bodleian, she brings to bear previous scholarship in telling ways and offers her own interpretation of important elements in the five novels Barbara Pym published between 1952 and 1961 and in An Unsuitable Attachment.

Anyone who has actually read Pym knows that she uses nearly as many literary allusions as T S Eliot; but the allusions to contemporary society and current affairs generally go unnoticed. The great service Orna Raz does for us is to point these out, and they are legion: references to religious and political change, topics such as the welfare state, immigration, homosexuality and social unrest show more – many of these integrated so seamlessly into the novels that the author herself may not always have been aware of them. The subtle nature of her art is underlined in Dr Raz’s chapter on Anglo-Catholicism, where she shows how Pym shades in her characters by the extent of their involvement in the Anglo-Catholic movement. "Daring and Romish" is a fashion statement for some, and an expression of individuality for others.

There is evidence, also, of Pym’s very wide reading, not only of fiction and verse but of instructional and other non-fictional works with a contemporary relevance. Dr Raz demonstrates beyond doubt that Barbara Pym, far from living in a cloistered fantasy world, had an enquiring mind and made a point of keeping abreast of social trends in the outside world. show less