Barbara Pym (1913-1980)

Barbara Pym had great success in the 1950s. A graduate of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, her first published book was “Some Tame Gazelle”, which was quickly followed up by “Excellent Women”, often thought to be her best novel.

She enjoyed regular publication until 1963 when, despite her books still being popular, her publisher decided they had become rather old-fashioned for the forward-looking Sixties.

In 1977, Lord David Cecil and Philp Larkin decided to put this right by nominating her as the most underrated writer of the century. She was encouraged to write a come-back novel, “Quartet In Autumn”, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Sadly, the author died three years later.

There is now a Barbara Pym Society and a new biography by Paula Byrne has made the best-seller lists.