From Publishers Weekly
Several of the novels written by British author Barbara Pym (1913-1979) are devoted to amusing and detailed character studies of upper-middle-class unmarried British women ( Excellent Women ; Jane and Prudence ). In this well-reasoned psychological analysis of the author's art, Wyatt-Brown draws on the body of Pym's work, her unpublished papers and interviews with the author's sister to support the thesis that Pym's encounters with unrequited love and emotional deprivation were the inspiration for her writing. In later life Pym published Quartet in Autumn , a powerful fictionalized version of her own experiences with illness and aging that finally established her reputation. Enthusiasts and scholars will find this penetrating analysis a useful tool with which to view Pym's life and work. Wyatt-Brown is Coordinator of Scholarly Writing in the Linguistics Program at the University of Florida. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Book News, Inc.
Studies the art and life of a well-loved (but critically ignored) British novelist, with insights that will interest general readers, gender specialists, gerontologists, writing and reading theorists, and psychoanalytic critics. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Long admired by readers for her wit, incisiveness, and comic flair, Barbara Pym has only begun to receive serious critical attention in recent years. Until now no biographer has fully explored the influence of Pym's life upon her work. In this first critical biography Anne Wyatt-Brown shows how Pym's transformation of everyday experiences into art allowed her to triumph over her social and emotional environments. Whereas most literary biographies concentrate on the productive years of their subjects, this book takes a wider view, examining both the early influence of reading and the later effects of aging on Pym's creative development and on her career. Combining psychoanalytic insights, literary analysis, and gerontological and writing theories, Wyatt-Brown provides a deeper understanding of Pym's work. Reading Pym's novels in the context of her letters, diaries, and early manuscripts, Wyatt-Brown examines the forces that hindered Pym's early career and disrupted her success at midlife, when she became discouraged by her inability to extend her readership. Ironically, in her last years, ill-health provided Pym with a new subject and unexpectedly salvaged her foundering career. Wyatt-Brown also argues that gender plays an important role in Pym's novels. Pym wrote from the perspective of marginal women who, despite education and cultivation, feel they have no recognizable role to play in the modern world. Spinsterhood kept Pym on the fringes of society, according to Wyatt-Brown and it was only Pym's extraordinary creativity that allowed her to transcend her situation. Barbara Pym: A Critical Biography provides a fascinating glimpse into the life and art of one of the best-loved British writers of the twentieth century. General readers, gender specialists, gerontologists, writing and reading theorists, and psychoanalytic critics will welcome this innovative and much-needed exploration of Barbara Pym's life and work.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Several of the novels written by British author Barbara Pym (1913-1979) are devoted to amusing and detailed character studies of upper-middle-class unmarried British women ( Excellent Women ; Jane and Prudence ). In this well-reasoned psychological analysis of the author's art, Wyatt-Brown draws on the body of Pym's work, her unpublished papers and interviews with the author's sister to support the thesis that Pym's encounters with unrequited love and emotional deprivation were the inspiration for her writing. In later life Pym published Quartet in Autumn , a powerful fictionalized version of her own experiences with illness and aging that finally established her reputation. Enthusiasts and scholars will find this penetrating analysis a useful tool with which to view Pym's life and work. Wyatt-Brown is Coordinator of Scholarly Writing in the Linguistics Program at the University of Florida. (July)

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