Barbara Pym: Some tame gazelle (1976, Chivers)
376 pages
English language
Published Nov. 30, 1976 by Chivers.
Harriet and Belinda Bede are middle-aged sisters who have only two things in common: their spinsterhood and their love for each other. Harriet is a bubbly, chubby coquette. Belinda is a meek, thin romantic who, since her youth, has nurtured an unrequited love for the town's vicar.
Barbara Pym provides her heroines with a memorable clique of admirers: Archdeacon Hoccleve, a pompous man of the cloth whose sermons remain mysteries to his parishioners; Edgar Donne the young church curate who, taken under Harriet's wing, is fed enough chicken to last a lifetime; and Count Ricardo Bianco, a nice old man who periodically proposes to, and is turned down by, Harriet.
In many ways, Some Tame Gazelle, Barbara Pym's first novel, presents the reverse image of village life portrayed in A Few Green Leaves, her last novel. Where that was reflective, this is hopeful, gay, and turned to the …
Harriet and Belinda Bede are middle-aged sisters who have only two things in common: their spinsterhood and their love for each other. Harriet is a bubbly, chubby coquette. Belinda is a meek, thin romantic who, since her youth, has nurtured an unrequited love for the town's vicar.
Barbara Pym provides her heroines with a memorable clique of admirers: Archdeacon Hoccleve, a pompous man of the cloth whose sermons remain mysteries to his parishioners; Edgar Donne the young church curate who, taken under Harriet's wing, is fed enough chicken to last a lifetime; and Count Ricardo Bianco, a nice old man who periodically proposes to, and is turned down by, Harriet.
In many ways, Some Tame Gazelle, Barbara Pym's first novel, presents the reverse image of village life portrayed in A Few Green Leaves, her last novel. Where that was reflective, this is hopeful, gay, and turned to the future. The world of Barbara Pym may be as provincial as an English country village, but it is alive and ready for the seizing.
Definitely not yet at the level of her really great ones, but it’s her first published novel, so fair enough! I think it’s missing the key ingredient of different generations or different classes to really get her kicks in, and there are so so so many jokes about curates. But it’s Barbara Pym and it’s still v good
