The Sweet Dove Died

Barbara Pym is one of my most favourite novelists. Few other writers have given me more laughter and more pleasure – Jilly Cooper, author of The Thursday Murder ClubLife is cruel and we do terrible things to each other.The lives of Humphrey and James Boyce, a seasoned antique dealer and his good-looking nephew, are changed for ever when the elegant Leonora Eyre glides into their bustling Bond Street salesroom, delicate as porcelain, cool as ice. An impassioned bid lands her a coveted book and two equally enthralled companions. As the enigmatic Leonora navigates these relationships, others are drawn into her mysterious and intoxicating web, and a world of human complexities and simmering desires is exposed. Pym brings her unique voice to this darkly comic exploration of love, loneliness and jealousy. I’m a huge fan of Barbara Pym – Richard Osman, author of The Thursday Murder ClubFaultless -The GuardianHer characters are all meticulously impaled on the delicate pins of a wit that is as scrupulous as it is deadly – The ObserverA coldly funny book -The Sunday TelegraphHighly distinctive . . . The critics who have recently insisted on Miss Pyms too long neglected gifts have not been wrong – Financial Times