Barbara Pym Centenary: A Few Green Leaves

I thought I'd start a thread for August's book. Perhaps some are reading it for AV/AA? It's up next on my TBR, so hope to start reading in the coming week.

I read it last month, I don't think there are any spoilers in my review ...

Thanks for starting this thread Laura. I have read this one before but am planning to re-read it this month at some point.

Thank you Laura. You & Ali both just seem to be everywhere & we are grateful. ♥

Edited to ask Laura: Is this one a Virago?

>4 rainpebble:: Good question Belva, and the Virago Collection Tracker tells me it is not. So I guess it doesn't qualify for AV/AA after all.

:-(

Perhaps I will swap August's Pym for September's.

I will probably be reading it somewhere round the middle of the month.

I'm enjoying this one; about half way through, and I love the cast of characters and the small village atmosphere. The contrasts between tradition and modernity remind me of Miss Read's Fairacre books, although Pym is sharper-edged than Read.

It's not a Virago, and as Pan Macmillan have just published it in their Bello imprint as paperback/ebook here, I assume they hold the rights and it's less likely to be a Virago in the near future. I'm not quite sure what the UK publishing history here is.

I finished this one a few days ago, and absolutely loved it. The coffee morning in Chapter 10 was a great set piece and had me laughing on every page.

Starting A Few Green Leaves now, a bit later than I planned.

My review here: http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/book-reviews-65/ and Matthew read and enjoyed it, too! (I have photographic evidence of him reading it!)

My review:

Emma Howick is an anthropologist staying in her mother's country cottage to write up her notes. She sees an old flame on TV and on impulse writes to him. He visits her and moves into a deserted cottage in the woods for the summer.

This was Barbara Pym's last book, written in the last year of her life before she died of cancer. The Pym hallmark of bringing us up to date on characters from other books is there with news of some deaths. We've got the stock Pym characters, anthropologists, the clergy (but no curates), and excellent women. And yet. It's a pleasant enough read, but nothing that makes you want to read bits out loud to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen.

I've finally started re-reading A Few Green Leaves.

Finished A Few Green leaves last night, a re-read though one I had forgotten. It won't be one of my favourites, but I did find it a very enjoyayable gentle read.

I finished and REVIEWED the book and, although it took me a bit longer to get into this one it will go down as one of my favorites.

I finished this a while ago but haven't been able to form an articulate response to it. It was an enjoyable read but will not rank among my favourites. I didn't like Emma very much and I'm not quite sure why. I did like most of the other characters and there were some excellent set pieces in there, such as the bring-and-buy sale and the hunger lunch.