...such an excellent woman." And a bit later in the novel: "`You could consider marrying an excellent woman?' I asked in amazement. "But they are not for marrying.'" Barbara Pym's use of the title phrase is wryly ironic throughout the book. The women of excellence are the self-effacing, non-entities, bound for, or have already embraced, what was once called spinsterhood. They often found fulfillment clustered in church auxiliaries, polishing the brass candles, and arranging the flowers for the much more important pastor, a male, who was in charge, and who would patronizingly "compliment" them with that phrase.
The novel is told through the eyes of Mildred Lathbury, one of literature's unforgettable, empathetic characters. She is 30ishs. The period is early post-Second World War England. Some of the worship services are depicted in a church that still has its bomb damage un-repaired. The other characters are less sympathetic, and include Rockingham and Helena Napier, and the pastor Julian Malory and his sister, Winfred. The Napier's have moved into a "flat" downstairs, and indicative of the housing shortage of the period, share the common bathroom with Mildred. "Rocky" is a de-mobbed naval officer, rather shallow, whose previous duties included rendering solace to WRENS (British female naval officers) in Italy. His wife Helena is an anthropologist, who doesn't do the housekeeping well. Helena's colleague, Everard is also an anthropologist, and via both one gains insight into the workings of their profession, as well as the associated "learned" societies. The arrival of Allegra Grey, recently widowed from a clergyman, with her eyes on Pastor Malory, adds additional drama to the novel. But the drama is never high; the issues are not all-encompassing and grandiose. As Ms Lathbury says: "I wondered that she should waste so much energy fighting over a little matter like wearing hats in chapel, but then I told myself that, after all, life was like that for most of us--the small unpleasantness rather than the great tragedies; the little useless longings rather than the great renunciations and dramatic love affairs of history or fiction."
Pym epitomizes classic understated British humor. She has that deft touch of selecting the precise detail that will resonate with the reader, and flesh out words that we use daily in graphic images. Clearly Mildred Lathbury is "self-effacing," and who could ever forget that after passages like: "I began taking off my apron and tidying my hair, apologizing as I did so, in what I felt was a stupid, fussy way, for my appearance. As if anyone would care how I looked or even notice me, I told myself scornfully." Or latter, when William has taken her to lunch, and he says, of the Nuits St. George wine: "`A tolerable wine, Mildred,' he said, `unpretentious, but I think you will like it.' `Unpretentious, just like me,' I said stupidly, touching the feather in my brown hat.'" Another complementary theme throughout the novel is how all the other characters routinely impose their problems upon Mildred. She realized it, but normally accepts them, and attempts to resolve them. At some level, I found the novel a wonderful antidote for any desire to live in a more integrated community. The anonymous life of the big city has much to be said for it.
Pym also weaves a certain level of erudition throughout the novel, which most likely reflected the actual level of the characters, before the days of television. For example, the Pastor quotes Keats to Mildred, all too fittingly:
I cannot see what flowers are at my feet
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs.
Mildred thinks the last line would be a great title for a novel; I checked at Amazon, and yes, it is still `available.'
As for observations on the human condition, consider Mildred's comment: "Yes, men are sometimes taken in. They don't ever quite see the terrible depths that we do."
Does Mildred get "rescued" from spinsterhood, as every empathetic reader would hope? Yet another compelling reason to read this marvelous, "balanced and sensible", in a very British sort of way, 5-star plus novel.
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Top reviews from other countries
Steve Collins
I don't know if this is great literature but I loved every page; subtle and amusing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2022rg
la difficulté d'être célibataire dans l'Angleterre des années cinquante...
Reviewed in France on June 14, 2021
mansi mudgal
Excellent women is my first Pym and after reading it ...
Reviewed in India on July 21, 2017