Ive always enjoyed Barbara Pym's novels and her knack for capturing everyday aspects of English life from the various perspectives of women who are usually middle aged, lonely and starved for affection. Most of them are quite endearing but this time I was surprised to discover that I simply did not like the elegantly attractive Leonora Eyre, who struck me as being appallingly selfish and dreadfully manipulative. Having attracted the attention of Humprey Boyce and his nephew James, she immediately sets about to win over the affection of the younger man, while managing to string along his uncle and use him to humiliate Phoebe, the young woman who has become infatuated with James.who as it turns out is bisexual and is lured into a relationship with another man. While this was not my favorite Barbara Pym novel, I couldnt put it down once I got into it because of Pyms artful talent for writing about the many layered intricacies of relationships between people who need desperately to be loved and are so easily misled because of it.
Enjoyable author, often compared to Jane Austen.
Over Barbara Pym's 30-year writing career her primary subject was the intricate rituals of English life, which she observed with a sharp but understanding eye. Her novels now enjoy a devoted following and belated recognition as classics of the British comic novel. In The Sweet Dove Died, first published in 1978, she sardonically uncovers the sometimes troubling truths behind relationships. A chance encounter over a Victorian flower book brings together Humphrey, an antique dealer, James, his nephew, and Leonora. Although she is considerably older, Leonora develops a fondness for James. She's determined to keep him under her spell, until she realizes that she has to contend with the bookish Phoebe. When Ned, a wicked young American, appears on the scene, the book begins to live up to its droll title, taken from John Keats.
