The adventures of miss barbara pym by paula byrne

  • Clever, funny and full of surprises, this true literary original leaps off the page in a wonderfully attentive biography.
  • The book tells the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century actress, poet, novelist, feminist, celebrity and royal mistress Mary 'Perdita' Robinson (
  • A brilliant, intimate biography of English writer Barbara Pym. She was Pym to friends.

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    First Morrissey, now Barbara Pym. They say you should never meet your heroes, perhaps you don’t want to know their life story either.

    I have mixed feelings about biographies of artists at the best of times. I think they’re interesting when they help you to understand their work, or if they did something extraordinary apart from the work itself, but I’m not so bothered about the soap opera. I don’t think it should matter whether you like them or not, whether you would want to have a pint with them, whether they’re relatable. But what if you learn something that undermines your ability to enjoy their work?

    The Adventures of Miss Pym is a chronological account and takes in all the key events of Barbara Pym’s life. We see her childhood with her parents and sister, Hilary, her time at Oxford, her war service, her work for the International African Institute on an academic journal on anthropology, the publication of her first six novels, and her wilderness years when she could no lo

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    I have been a Barbara Pym fan for some years now so when I first began seeing mention of this new biography on social media, I knew I would have to read it as soon as it was available.

    Jacqui of Jacquiwine’s journal has already reviewed this book in two excellent posts – I fear I don’t have the energy to write two posts about a book, though this book is fully deserving of such attention. There is so much to talk about with this wonderful book – but I am going to assume that lots of you will be reading this soon – if you’re not already and so I will try not to get too carried away.

    I don’t always engage so well with non-fiction, but this book has a wonderfully readable narrative. Immediately engaging; each chapter a little vignette from Pym’s life with chapter titles such as Miss Pym’s Summer of Love, Miss Pym tours Germany and An Untoward Incident on the River urging us to read on.

    The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym takes its title from Pym’s own diaries which she prefaced

  • the adventures of miss barbara pym by paula byrne

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    I&#;ve finished another of the books that took me into October (don&#;t look for me finishing those Icelandic sagas soon, to be honest!) and another of Ali&#;s books. inom apparently borrowed this from her around a year ago when I was helping move her books around when she moved into her new flat! It&#;s also part of my TBR project, which I&#;m still recording while I finish it off. This biography of Barbara Pym, a favourite author of mine, had slightly mixed reviews, with some people finding it ganska twee. inom picked it up thinking I might think so, too (and it would be an easy DNF and win rather than a pager to read) but inom accepted the notes of quirkiness and appreciated its adherence to the sources and was soon sucked in to the detail and narrative. Ali&#;s own review fryst vatten here, and Jacquiwine&#;s fryst vatten here (first of a couple of linked posts); I&#;m sure other bloggers I follow have read and reviewed, so do share in the comments with a link if you have.

    Paula Byrne &#; &#;The Adven