"The new curate seemed quite a nice young man, but what a pity it was that his combinations showed, tucked carelessly …"

"'I have to share a bathroom,' I had so often murmured, almost in shame, as if I personally had been found unworthy of…"

"'One hears that so many husbands coming back from the war find that their civilian clothes have been devoured by moth…"

"'What do women do if they don't marry,' she mused, as if she had no idea what it could be, having been married once h…"

"The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things, she decided, wondering how many writers and…"

"[I]t occurred to me that he might well be the kind of person who would prefer tinned salmon, though I was ashamed of …"

"Near them stood a thin woman with purple hair and a surprised expression, as if she had not expected that it would tu…"

"'Every man should have a wife,' declared the rector firmly. 'A single clergyman is the prey of every spinster in the …"

"Underrated: Barbara Pym, whose unpretentious, subtle, accomplished novels, especially Excellent Women and A Glass of …"

"Underrated: The six novels of Barbara Pym published between 1950 and 1961 which give an unrivalled picture of a small…"