Emma Howick, an aspiring anthropologist, chooses to settle in a country community in the heart of England, with a view to researching a study on "The Social Patterns of a West Oxfordshire Village". She soon finds herself inextricably caught up in the lives of her new neighbours.
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Emma Howick, an aspiring anthropologist, chooses to settle in a country community in the heart of England, with a view to researching a study on "The Social Patterns of a West Oxfordshire Village". She soon finds herself inextricably caught up in the lives of her new neighbours.
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Those who know Pym's books, like me, and re-read them, need no introduction.
Those who haven't, should give one of her better known books a try, like "No Fond Return of Love". This isn't her best. But she's a special writer, capturing the unmarried women and men (not necessarily lonely, note) who lived in the suburbs and small towns near London, often working for academics in thankless research, like indexing books, who find joy and pleasure in small things. Pym's books are full of wry observations and funny touches but there's also a melancholy side in dashed hopes and misguided expectations. I love her unsentimental take on life and the way she gives dignity to single women in that era (50s) who often were given little status and/or respect.
