The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym

The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym
Paula Byrne
RRP:
NZ$ 35.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 28.79
Paperback
h198 x 129mm - 704pg
28 Apr 2022 UK
International import eta 10-19 days
9780008322243
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
' Captures both Barbara and her writing so miraculously' JILLY COOPER Picked as a Book to Look Forward to in 2021 by the Guardian, The Times and the Observer She was Pym to friends. Miss Pym in her diaries. Sandra in seduction mode. Pymska at her most sophisticated. English novelist Barbara Pym' s career was defined, in many senses, by rejection. Her first novel Some Tame Gazelle was turned down by every publisher she sent it out in 1935, finally published only fifteen years later. Though she picked up a publisher from there and received modest praise, the publishing industry grew restless and her sales spiralled downwards. By her seventh novel she had been dropped. She was deemed old-fashioned, telling stories of little English villages, unrequited love and the social dramas of vicars or academics. This brilliant biography, brimming with Pym' s private diaries and intimate letters, offers a first full insight into Barbara Pym' s life and how it informed her writing. It gallops through her love affairs and lifelong relationships. It opens a door to the quick-draw humour which lives in her every written line. It shows how, with a little help from her most ardent fans and friends including Philip Larkin, her work eventually resurfaced, meeting new readers and bringing her sudden astounding, resounding love and acclaim - in the last years of her life.
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE ADVENTURES OF MISS BARBARA PYM' Barbara Pym is one of my most favourite novelists. Few other writers have given me more laughter and more pleasure. I am therefore enchanted that this biography by Paul Byrne captures both Barbara and her writing so miraculously. Best of all, it should bring hosts of new readers to enjoy her work. ' Jilly Cooper' This was the perfect lockdown treat - a biography that does more than justice to one of my favourite authors' Daisy Goodwin, author of My Last Duchess and The Fortune Hunter' Paula Byrne has not only succeeded in writing the definitive work on Barbara Pym, she has also - with astonishing skill - pieced together a beautifully nuanced mosaic. Each shimmering piece in this marvellous construct reflects an intricate moment in the life of Pym - the writer who, Byrne argues convincingly, is the 20th century' s answer to Jane Austen. This is biography at its brilliant best' Charles Spencer, author of The White ShipPRAISE FOR PAULA BYRNE' S THE REAL JANE AUSTEN' A delightful and engrossing portrait' Sunday Times' A perceptive and energetic guide to Austen and her surroundings . . . Byrne' s critical study consists of a series of beautifully written, interrelated essays . . . [her] style gives fresh charms to her subject matter . . . Bold, fast-moving and accessible' Daily Telegraph' Brilliantly illuminating . . . riveting. By focusing, chapter by chapter, on one thread or another of Austen' s experience, Byrne allows us to grasp the richness of her inner life' Simon Callow, Guardian
Paula Byrne was born in Birkenhead and has a PhD from the University of Liverpool, where she is a Research Fellow in English Literature. Her first book, Jane Austen and the Theatre, was shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize. Her second book, Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson , the tale of the scandalous star of the 18th-century stage, literature and high-society, was a Richard and Judy bookclub pick. Her most recent book is Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. The story of Evelyn Waugh' s friendship with the extraordinary aristocratic family who inspired Brideshead Revisited, it was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. A regular contributor to the ' Times Literary Supplement' , she lives in Warwickshire with her two young children and her husband, the critic and biographer Jonathan Bate.
Status: No local stock, title imported to order
ISBN-13: 9780008322243
Published: 28 Apr 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: William Collins
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Paperback
Height: 198mm
Width: 129mm
Spine: 44mm
Weight: 270g
Pages: 704

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information