No Fond Return of Love

No Fond Return of Love
by Barbara Pym


Blurb:

Dulcie Mainwaring, the heroine of the book, is one of those excellent women who is always helping others and never looking out for herself-- especially in the realms of love. The novel has a delicate tangle of schemes and unfulfilled dreams, hidden secrets and a castle or two. Told wonderfully in the deadpan honesty that has become a Pym hallmark, this book is a delight.

My Reaction:
Donald and I chose this almost at random as our latest "shared read-aloud" book. We were in need of something for our next read and selected this from what I already had loaded on my Kindle. Choice was limited (lots of horror on there, at the moment), and this was the closest to our usual fare of light humor. I'd been meaning to try some Pym, but had never really planned on it being shared reading material. However, it served that purpose better than I would've predicted, and I think we both enjoyed it!

I found my first Pym to be much as advertised-- a relatively quiet, unassuming story (a not particularly romantic romance) about a year or so in the lives of a smallish cast of characters, most of whom are members of the English middle class.

Essentially, it's a modern/mid-century comedy of manners. The sense of humor is mild and restrained ("dry" is probably the standard descriptor), but it is unquestionably there and springs up at some unexpected moments.

Embedded in a rather simple tale of ordinary people are moments of keen insight and honesty, just slipped in here and there, casually-- the type of observations where you instantly recognize yourself and your own life (for better or worse!). Those tiny blips of brilliance give this novel a surprising depth and complexity that elevate it to the level of "literature".

I believe I first came across Pym as a recommendation for fans of E.F. Benson's Lucia series. I would agree with the suggestion, but with the caveat that (based on the little Pym I've read) Benson's Lucia novels have a slightly acrid, often biting sense of humor and more outsized character personalities than Pym's, where the humor is softer, muted-- more representative, maybe, of real life. Benson makes me laugh harder, but Pym is more profound (and a little bittersweet).

I'll certainly be reading more from this author!