Reading Barbara Pym

Reading Barbara Pym sakes out new territory in Pym criticism by questioning the assumptions and predispositions by which her novels have been received and judged. Early in Pym’s career, reviews of her novels likened her books in relaxed fashion to delicious tastes and smells. Later (when mention of her twice in a TLS survey as one of the century’s ten most underrated novelists secured and altered her critical reception), and since her death in 1980, commentary in oppositely vigilant fashion discovered in Pym’s novels academic themes and gender/political issues ripe for exploration. But the traditional concerns of academic and popular criticism have sidestepped the more challenging task of locating the power and quality of Pym’s narrative, the reasons her novels are important to read personally as well as study academically.