Rating: 
Summary: Charming book about 1950's London middle-class society
Review: Pym's novel is beautifully written from the point of view of a thirty-something single clergy-man's daughters' point of view. Barbara Pym's characters are realistically drawn and thoroughly believable. Tea is forever being made, references to post-WWII London rations are skillfully described and the comedy is genuine. The heroine hasn't a self-pitying bone in her body. She's impossible not to love.
Rating: 
Summary: Love At Last
Review: This is another comparison of Barbara Pym's books, so that readers can better choose between them. It goes without saying that I think all her work is excellent in its own quiet, comic style.EXCELLENT WOMEN is, I think, the most romantic of Pym's books. And, the romance for her heroine comes out of an unexpected quarter. In the meanwhile it is concerned with various romantic possibilities, such as crushes, courtship and coupledom, and especially all the ways they can go wrong. EXCELLENT WOMEN is an urban novel, set in London, hence less sentimental than some of her others. But, it has one of the happiest endings and one of the most pragmatic, straightforward heroines. The greatest weakness of the book is that it is all about individuals and not a complete social milieu, like Pym's country villages. So, the associations between the characters feel a little random and therefore less meaningful. But, despite this, I believe Mildred comes off wonderfully well, as do the cast of oddball characters she meets.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: This is definitely not a Jane Austen novel, though it is enjoyable in its own right. The protagonist, Mildred Lathbury, is also our narrator -- a woman who is, generally speaking, at peace with her spinsterhood. She is a thirtyish single woman of good works, but she is also surprisingly funny. Sometimes she is downright canny regarding those people with whom she deals; at other times she seems to be endearingly dim. I really enjoyed this book, my first by Barbara Pym, and will look for more by this author.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: This is definitely not a Jane Austen novel, though it is enjoyable in its own right. The protagonist, Mildred Lathbury, is also our narrator -- a woman who is, generally speaking, at peace with her spinsterhood. She is a thirtyish single woman of good works, but she is also surprisingly funny. Sometimes she is downright canny regarding those people with whom she deals; at other times she seems to be endearingly dim. I really enjoyed this book, my first by Barbara Pym, and will look for more by this author.
| 
