Pages

Monday, February 2, 2015

Quartet in Autumn

Letty. Marcia. Norman. Edwin.
"Four people on the verge of retirement, each one of us living alone,
and without any close relatives near--that's us...(with) all the freedom
that loneliness brings..."

In the hands of any other author this novel would have been sad and depressing, but Barbara Pym's lyrical writing fills it with warmth and wit and hope. Of the four characters, I liked Letty best. Letty, who "had always been an unashamed reader of novels" and for whom love had never come. She works in the same office as Marcia, Norman, and Edwin (although you never know what it is that any of them actually do). They are colleagues, but not necessarily friends. Then Marcia and Letty retire, affecting all four of their lives in unexpected ways. Quartet in Autumn is a quiet, character-driven novel set in England in the 1970s. And I loved it. It made me feel a little sad, but it also made me smile. And it made me realize all over again just what an amazing writer Barbara Pym is. I think the last line of this thoughtful little novel sums it up best:

"But at least it made one realise that life still
held infinite possibilities for change."

Happy Reading!

P.S. Thank you, Liz, for passing this novel on to me...I really enjoyed reading it!


8 comments:

  1. I have still only read one Barbara Pym novel (Less Than Angels) but I want to read more. I think I'll probably read Excellent Women next, but I do like the sound of this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellent Women is still my favorite, but I quite enjoyed this one. More than I thought I would, actually. But that's the beauty of Pym's novels. Always better than you expect.

      Delete
  2. I haven't read anything by Pym, but this one sounds interesting. I like character-driven novels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Her books focus on her characters...but there's always a lot of humor in them, too. Kind of like a more modern version of Jane Austen.

      Delete
  3. I need to try a Barbara Pym novel! I thought that the last time you wrote about one of her books. Maybe this year will be the year! Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely read Pym this year. She's awesome!

      Delete
  4. I've just started reading Pym and am looking forward to this one. I'm curious to see how the retirement of two colleagues affects the others unexpectedly.

    Lovely review that really whetted my appetite for more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. This was an unexpectedly delightful book...although, seeing as how its a Barbara Pym novel, the delightful part shouldn't have been so unexpected. Which of her books have you read?

      Delete