<div>A tale of a woman&rsquo;s romantic entanglements with two anthropologists&mdash;and the odd mating habits of humans&mdash;from the author of Jane and Prudence. Catherine Oliphant writes for women&rsquo;s magazines and lives comfortably with anthropologist Tom Mallow&mdash;although she&rsquo;s starting to wonder if they&rsquo;ll ever get married. Then Tom drops his bombshell: He&rsquo;s leaving her for a nineteen-year-old student. Though stunned by Tom&rsquo;s betrayal, Catherine quickly becomes fascinated by another anthropologist, Alaric Lydgate, a reclusive eccentric recently returned from Africa. As Catherine starts to weigh her options, she must figure out who she is and what she really wants. With a lively cast of characters and a witty look at the insular world of academia, this novel from the much-loved author of Excellent Women and other modern classics is filled with poignant, playful observations about the traits that separate us from our anthropological forebears&mdash;far fewer than we may imagine. </div>

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Less Than Angels

<div>A novel of two sisters in postwar England that lets you &ldquo;step into the Jane Austen&ndash;like lives of Harriet and Belinda Bede&rdquo; (The Christian Science Monitor). Belinda and Harriet Bede live together in a small English village. Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with Henry Hoccleve&mdash;the poetry-spouting, married archdeacon of their church&mdash;for thirty years. Belinda&rsquo;s much more confident, forthright younger sister Harriet, meanwhile, is ardently pursued by Count Ricardo Bianco. Although she has turned down every marriageable man who proposes, Harriet still welcomes any new curate with dinner parties and flirtatious conversation. And one of the newest arrivals, the reverend Edgar Donne, has everyone talking. A warm, affectionate depiction of a postwar English village, Some Tame Gazelle perfectly captures the quotidian details that make up everyday life. With its vibrant supporting cast, it&rsquo;s also a poignant story of unrequited love. </div>

Some Tame Gazelle

<div>Three lonely people come together in this poignant, witty novel of star-crossed romance from the New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of Jane and Prudence. After being jilted by her fianc&eacute;, Dulcie Mainwaring despairs of ever finding true love. For a distraction, she goes to a publishing conference, where she meets Viola Dace, a dramatic woman who refuses to live without romance, as well as Aylwin Forbes, an editor whom Viola adores. The fact that Aylwin is married doesn&rsquo;t stop Viola. When her amorous pursuit prompts Aylwin&rsquo;s wife to leave him, the academic heartthrob is wide open to Viola&rsquo;s romantic attentions. That is, until Dulcie&rsquo;s eighteen-year-old niece moves in with Viola, and the young girl soon catches Aylwin&rsquo;s roving eye. Set in London in the early 1960s, No Fond Return of Love is a delightful comedy of manners that comes full circle as Dulcie discovers a love as unexpected as it is liberating. </div>

Overdrive

No Fond Return of Love

<div>Barbara Pym&rsquo;s early novel takes us into 1950s England, as seen through the funny, engaging, yearning eyes of a restless housewife Wilmet Forsyth is bored. Bored with the everyday routine of her life. Bored with teatimes filled with local gossip. Bored with her husband, Rodney, a civil servant who dotes on her. But on her thirty-third birthday, Wilmet&rsquo;s conventional life takes a turn when she runs into the handsome brother of her close friend. Attractive and enigmatic, Piers Longridge is a mystery Wilmet is determined to solve. Rather than settling down, he lived in Portugal, then returned to England for a series of odd jobs. Driven by a fantasy of romance, the sheltered, na&iuml;ve Englishwoman sets out to seduce Piers&mdash;only to discover that he isn&rsquo;t the man she thinks he is. As cozy as sharing a cup of tea with an old friend, A Glass of Blessings explores timeless themes of sex, marriage, religion, and friendship while exposing our flaws and foibles with wit, compassion, and a generous helping of love. </div>

A Glass of Blessings

<div>The author of Excellent Women explores female friendship and the quiet yearnings of British middle-class life&mdash;a literary delight for fans of Jane Austen. Jane Cleveland and Prudence Bates were close friends at Oxford University, but now live very different lives. Forty-one-year-old Jane lives in the country, is married to a vicar, has a daughter she adores, and lives a very proper life in a very proper English parish. Prudence, a year shy of thirty, lives in London, has an office job, and is self-sufficient and fiercely independent&mdash;until Jane decides her friend should be married. Jane has the perfect husband in mind for her former pupil: a widower named Fabian Driver. But there are other women vying for Fabian&rsquo;s attention. And Pru is nursing her own highly inappropriate desire for her older, married, and seemingly oblivious employer, Dr. Grampian. What follows is a witty, delightful, trenchant story of manners, morals, family, and female bonding that redefines the social novel for a new generation. </div>

Jane and Prudence

<div>Three comedies of manners set in postwar England by the New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of Excellent Women and &ldquo;the rarest of treasures&rdquo; (Anne Tyler). Often characterized as the twentieth-century literary heiress to Jane Austen, and heralded by Phillip Larkin as &ldquo;the most underrated novelist of the century,&rdquo; Barbara Pym explored female friendship and the quiet yearnings of British middle-class life&mdash;not the least of which, unrequited love&mdash;with sharp wit and deep compassion for her characters. No wonder Eudora Welty called her work &ldquo;sheer delight&rdquo; and the New York Times raved, &ldquo;her entire canon is a treat.&rdquo; A Glass of Blessings: Wilmet Forsyth is bored with her everyday routine: teatimes, local gossip, even with her husband, Rodney, a civil servant who dotes on her. But Wilmet&rsquo;s conventional life takes a turn when she runs into the enigmatic brother of a close friend. Piers Longridge is a mystery Wilmet is determined to solve. Driven by a fantasy of romance, the sheltered, na&iuml;ve Englishwoman sets out to seduce Piers&mdash;only to discover that he isn&rsquo;t the man she thinks he is. Some Tame Gazelle: Pym&rsquo;s debut novel invites readers to &ldquo;step into the Jane Austen&ndash;like lives of Harriet and Belinda Bede,&rdquo; sisters who live together in a small English village (The Christian Science Monitor). Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with the married archdeacon of their church for thirty years. Meanwhile Belinda&rsquo;s more confident younger sister, Harriet, is herself pursued by an Italian count whose proposals of marriage are always graciously declined. But it&rsquo;s a new arrival in their midst who has everyone talking. For now, in this poignant novel of unrequited love, that is enough. Jane and Prudence: Jane Cleveland and Prudence Bates were friends at Oxford, but now lead very different lives. Jane is married to a vicar in a proper English parish with a daughter she adores. Prudence lives in London, career-minded and fiercely independent&mdash;until Jane decides she should be married. Jane has the perfect husband in mind. What follows is a delightfully trenchant story of manners, morals, family, and female bonding that redefines the social novel for a new generation.</div>

The Barbara Pym Collection Volume One

<div>Two literary romantic novels from the New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of Excellent Women. Less Than Angels: In a story that explores the mating habits of humans, magazine writer Catherine Oliphant lives comfortably with anthropologist Tom Mallow&mdash;until he announces he&rsquo;s leaving her for a nineteen-year-old student. Though stunned by the betrayal, Catherine becomes fascinated by another anthropologist: a reclusive eccentric recently returned from Africa. Now Catherine must weigh her options and decide who she is and what she really wants. No Fond Return of Love: The course of true love does not run smoothly in this delightful comedy of manners set in 1960s London. Jilted by her fianc&eacute;, Dulcie Mainwaring gives up on ever finding true love. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t stop her from meddling in the romantic lives of others. Her friend Viola is enamored with a handsome editor, who in turn has eyes for Dulcie&rsquo;s young niece. Dulcie, meanwhile, for all her struggles may be falling back into love again.</div>

Barbara Pym
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Books By Barbara Pym (7 Books)

Less Than Angels

Some Tame Gazelle

No Fond Return of Love

A Glass of Blessings

Jane and Prudence

The Barbara Pym Collection Volume One

The Barbara Pym Collection Volume Two

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© 2023 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Barbara PymFollow this author

Books By Barbara Pym (7 Books)

Less Than Angels

Some Tame Gazelle

No Fond Return of Love

A Glass of Blessings

Jane and Prudence

The Barbara Pym Collection Volume One

The Barbara Pym Collection Volume Two

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© 2023 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Barbara Pym
Follow this author