Jane Austen meets P G Wodehouse

Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It is generally accepted now that Barbara Pym was, in her time, the most underrated of mid-twentieth century novelists. Even so, whenever I read her books (I have devoured three in recent months: 'Quartet in Autumn', 'Excellent Women' and 'Crampton Hodnet'), I am blown away all over again by her brilliance.

On the face of it, Pym writes about the minutiae of people whose lives don't matter very much; in the case of 'A Quartet in Autumn' four self-effacing office colleagues approaching retirement. The primary point being that of course the lives of Marcia, Letty, Edwin and Norman DO matter, not just because the value of each human existence is equal, but because the minutiae of ups and downs threaded into their stories are those that preoccupy as all. Each life may be 'small'. But our hopes - and capacity for disappointment - are universally vast.

The four main characters of 'Quartet in Autumn' are all single and, despite decades of sharing the same work routines, do not know each other very well. When the story begins, the two women, Letty and Marcia, are the ones who are about to retire, a turning point for all four which allows Pym to examine the pivotal decisions they have already made and the likely paths that lie ahead. She takes us into their private worlds, spinning so separately from their public ones, despite various half-hearted attempts they have each made over the years to bridge the gap. The possibility of loneliness - never once discussed - stalks them all.

If this sounds bleak then rest assured, Barbara Pym is funny as well as perceptive. Frequently hilarious, in fact. So while the scenario for Marcia in particular, a secret hoarder of tins and bottles, long since pulling up the drawbridge on her inner life, turns tragic, there is never any wallowing; only wry observation. Pym's lightness of touch lifts the narrative at every turn, finding humour in the darkest of her characters' flaws. As for instance when Letty, hearing that her best - her only - friend Marjorie has been dropped by her clergyman fiance in favour of a woman better at domestic spoiling, cannot stop herself feeling secretly ecstatic. She has her friend back! Pym is not judgemental about this or anything else; even the two men, Edwin and Norman, dabbling feebly to keep in touch with their erstwhile companions, knowing they are navigating difficulties, are portrayed with humour and compassion. They have their own aspirations to cope with, their own flimsy fortresses to defend.

Sometimes, I think of Barbara Pym as some wild cocktail mix of Jane Austen and P G Wodehouse. She has that same laser-insight, the same mastery of language, combined with the timing and insight of the born comedian. Pick up 'Quartet in Autumn', or any novel she has written, and you will not be disappointed.




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