The adventures of Miss Barbara Pym : a biography / Paula Byrne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Byrne, Paula, author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pym, Barbara.

Women authors, English--20th century--Biography.

Women authors, English.

Authors, English--20th century--Biography.

Authors, English.

Genre:

collective biographies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

686 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : William Collins, 2021.

Summary:

"Barbara Pym became beloved as one of the wittiest novelists of the late twentieth century, revealing the inner workings of domestic life so brilliantly that her friend Philip Larkin announced her the era's own Jane Austen. But who was Barbara Pym and why was the life of this English writer - one of the greatest chroniclers of the human heart - so defined by rejection, both in her writing and in love?"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: BOOK THE FIRST A SHROPSHIRE LASS

I. In which our Heroine is born in Oswestry

II. In which we learn how a Servant Girl Phoebe Pym, is seduced by a Gentleman and gives birth to a Baby Boy

III. In which Miss Pym is sent away to Boarding School

IV. Miss Pym attempts her First Novel: `Young Men in Fancy Dress'

V. In which Miss Barbara Pym goes up to St Hilda's College, Oxford

VI. In which our Heroine might have said Et in Arcadia ego

VII. In which Miss Pym returns North

VIII. In which Miss Pym returns to Oxford

IX. In which our Heroine meets a Handsome Young Man called Rupert Gleadow

X. Miss Pym's Summer of Love

XI. Our Heroine returns to Shropshire for the Long Vacation and invites Rupert to stay

XII. In which Things begin to become a little complicated with Rupert

XIII. The End of the Affair

XIV. In which we are introduced to `the Saga of Lorenzo'

XV. In which Sandra makes her Appearance

XVI. In which Sandra has her First Date with Lorenzo and bites him on the Cheek

XVII. We're having a Heatwave - a Tropical Heatwave

XVIII. Miss Pym reflects upon Stormy Weather

XLX. In which Sandra returns

XX. We are given a Glimpse of Sandra's Diary

XXI. In which Sandra tries to renounce Lorenzo

XXII. A Pet Kangaroo

XXIII. Sandra returns to Oxford and resumes her Affair with Lorenzo

XXIV. The Saga of Sandra and Lorenzo, continued

XXV. In which a Very Important Correspondence begins

BOOK THE SECOND GERMANY

I. Miss Pym tours Germany

II. In which Fraulein Pym falls for a Handsome Nazi

III. In which Sandra returns to Oxford and loses her Swastika Badge somewhere on the Banbury Road

IV. Miss Pym's Final Term

V. Night of the Long Knives

VI. Miss Pym returns to Nazi Germany and attends a Hitler Rally

VII. In which Miss Pym returns to England and begins writing a Novel

VIII. Miss Pym continues her Novel of `Real People'

IX. In which Miss Pym returns to Oxford to take her BA Degree

X. In which our Heroine goes to Germany for the third time and sleeps with her Nazi

XI. An Untoward Incident on the River

XII. `An English Gentlewoman can never come to any Harm'

XIII. Omit the Nazis

XIV. Pymska

XV. In which Pymska is involved in a Tragic Accident

XVI. In which Jock and Pymska draw closer together

XVII. The Inquest

XVIII. Miss Pym begins her Second Novel in the Summer of 1936 and returns to Oxford to be Henry's Amanuensis

XIX. The Story of Adam and Cassandra

XX. Jilted

XXI. An Introduction to Miss Ivy Compton-Burnett

XXII. Pymska writes a Finnish Novel

XXIII. Paavikki Olafsson and Jay

XXIV. Liebe Vikki

XXV. A Trip to the Botanical Gardens

XXVI. An Old Brown Horse

XXVII. In which our Heroine sees Friedbert for the Last Time

XXVIII. In which Pymska returns briefly Home to England and Vikki Olafsson goes to Poland

XXIX. Miss Pym leaves Poland in a Hurry, whilst there is still Time

XXX. We rummage in the Lumber Room

XXXI. We go to Crampton Hodnet

XXXII. Introducing Mr Simon Beddoes

XXXIII. A Peek into 112 Eaton Square

BOOK THE THIRD WAR

I. Operation Pied Piper

II. In which we meet Mrs Dobbs of Birkenhead and Lady Wraye of Belgravia

III. Miss Pym reads a Government White Paper about Nazi Atrocities

IV. Our Heroine is rejected Again

V. Miss Pym begins a Novel in Real Time

VI. The Shadow of the Swastika

VII. Food Glorious Food

VIII. Oxford Revisited

IX. Miss Pym joins the ARP

X. In which our Heroine works for the YMCA in an Army Tented Camp

XI. A Sketch of Miss Ivy Compton-Burnett

XII. I Married a Nazi

XIII. Miss Pym returns to her `Sentimental Journal'

XIV. So Very Secret

XV. Operation Bullseye

XVI. Miss Pym is offered a Job in the Censorship Department (German) and hears News of Friedbert

BOOK THE FOURTH FROM THE COPPICE TO NAPLES

I. Miss Pym moves to a `Select Residential District' of Bristol

II. In which we meet a Philandering Gentleman called Gordon Glover

III. The Marriage of Miss Hilary Pym and the Birth of a Baby

IV. Mr Gordon Glover makes a Bold Declaration to Miss Pym

V. It's That Man Again

VI. Miss Pym has a Medical Examination

VII. In which Miss Pym pays a visit to her Old Love, Rupert Gleadow

VIII. Miss Pym passes her Interview

IX. Miss Pym experiences Life in Uniform

X. Introducing `Wren Pym'

XI. Third Officer Pym is posted to Naples, where she meets `Pay-Bob' Starky

XII. The End of the War

BOOK THE FIFTH MISS PYM IN PIMLICO

I. In which our Heroine and her Sister take up Residence in London

II. Miss Pym the Anthropologist

III. In which Mr Jock Liddell persists and persuades Miss Pym to revise her Novel

IV. Miss Pym finally tames her Gazelle and it is released to the World

V. In which Miss Pym enters the Age of Dior and the Beveridge Report

VI. In which we read of an Excellent Woman

VII. In which Miss Pym leaves Pimlico for Barnes

VIII. In which Jock and Henry return (briefly) to the Story

IX. Miss Pym the Novelist takes Tea with the istinguished Author Elizabeth Bowen in the Company of Several Homosexuals

X. The Celebrated Miss Barbara Pym

XI. The Tale of Jane and Prudence

XII. In which Miss Pym meets Robert Smith, is promoted to Assistant Editor of Africa, and Marks & Spencer takes Umbrage

XIII. Miss Pym enters the New Elizabethan Age

XIV. Miss Pym goes to Portugal

XV. Bill

XVI. What a Saga!

XVII. Darling Denton and Orvil Pym

XVIII. Tracking down Orvil Pym

XIX. We drink a Glass of Blessings

XX. In which Miss Pym goes to Swanwick

XXI. In which Miss Pym goes over to Rome

XXII. A Sketch of Philip Larkin

XXIII. No fond Return to Print

BOOK THE SIXTH THE WILDERNESS YEARS

I. Miss Pym's Annus Horribilis

II. Miss Pym takes Umbrage

III. Hullo Skipper

IV. Miss Pym visits Keats's House in Hampstead

V. Of Wistfulness and Whitsun Weddings

VI. Darling Richard

VII. The Tale of the Sweet Bahamian and the Goddess of Brooksville

VIII. In which Mr Philip Larkin is disgrunded (when was he not?)

IX. In which Miss Pym takes Skipper as her Guest to the FANY Club Lunch and he receives a Love Token from Another Man, in the form of a Drying-up Cloth patterned with Dachshunds

X. Miss Pym is Off-loaded, again

XI. Mr Larkin to the Rescue

XII. In which we read Miss Pym's plangent Masterpiece, The Sweet Dove Died

XIII. Miss Pym feels her Age

XIV. In trying Circumstances, Miss Pym compares herself to an Amazon

XV. In which Holborn's Renowned Department Store, Gamages, is demolished

XVI. Miss Pym moves to Finstock

XVII. A Luncheon at the Randolph

XVIII. The Kissinger Syndrome and the Return of Henry Harvey

BOOK THE SEVENTH IN WHICH THE FORTUNES OF MISS PYM ARE REVERSED

I. A Real Pym Year

II. Tea with Miss Pym

III. Miss Pym plays a Quartet in Autumn

IV. Miss Pym attends the Booker Prize

V. In which Miss Pym is invited as a Castaway on a famous Desert Island

VI. In which Miss Pym works on her Last Novel

VII. In which Miss Pym makes her Final Journey.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9780008322205

0008322201

9780008322212

000832221X

OCLC:

1242773702