Civil to Strangers [Paperback]

Barbara Pym (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

This novel originally called Adam and Cassandra was written in 1936 about the time of SOME TAME GAZELLE, when Pym was in her 20's. CIVIL TO STRANGERS takes place in small Shropshire village. The charm of Budapest and a Hungarian by the name of Stefan Tilos find there way into this quiet novel. The people of the Shropshire village are forever changed by his influence.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara Pym (1913-1980) published fourteen books beginning in 1950 and continued until her death. A writer from the age of sixteen, Barbara Pym has been acclaimed as "the most underrated writer of the century" by the late British poet laureate, Philip Larkin. Her 1977 novel, Quartet in Autumn, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

From AudioFile

Understated and proper, maintaining unflappability no matter what's roiling beneath the surface--that's the way of the British and the way of a Barbara Pym story. And that's what we get from Gretel Davis, narrator of CIVIL TO STRANGERS, a posthumously published volume comprising a novel, three novellas, four short stories, and an autobiographical essay on Pym's writing career. Using well-sharpened insight and description, Pym whittles away at mundane lives to reveal the drama beneath the soul-squelching compromises that got the characters where they are. Understated yet full of possibility, Davis's tone seems right for the deceptive simplicity of Pym's stories. T.F. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Moyer Bell and its subsidiaries (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559213973
• ISBN-13: 978-1559213974
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,179,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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