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Barbara Pym
Barbara Mary Crampton Pym FRSL (2 June 1913 – 11 January 1980) was an English novelist. In the 1950s she published a series of social comedies, of which the best known are ''Excellent Women'' (1952) and '' A Glass of Blessings'' (1958). In 1977 her career was revived when the critic Lord David Cecil and the poet Philip Larkin both nominated her as the most under-rated writer of the century. Her novel '' Quartet in Autumn'' (1977) was nominated for the Booker Prize that year, and she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Biography Early life Barbara Mary Crampton Pym was born on 2 June 1913 at 72 Willow Street in Oswestry, Shropshire, the elder daughter of Irena Spenser, ''née'' Thomas (1886–1945) and Frederic Crampton Pym (1879–1966), a solicitor. She was educated at Queen's Park School, a girls' school in Oswestry. From the age of 12, she attended Huyton College, near Liverpool. Pym's parents were active in the local Oswestry operatic society, and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excellent Women
''Excellent Women'' is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1952, her second published novel and generally acclaimed as the funniest and most successful of her comedies of manners. Title The phrase "excellent women" is used by men in reference to the kind of women who perform small but meaningful duties in the service of churches and voluntary organisations. The phrase was first used by Pym in her early unpublished novel '' Civil to Strangers'' and is taken from Jane Austen's novel ''Sanditon''. Plot summary The book details the everyday life of its narrator, Mildred Lathbury, a spinster in her thirties in 1950s Britain. Perpetually self-deprecating, but with the sharpest wit, Mildred is a part-time voluntary worker who occupies herself by attending and helping at the local church. Mildred's life grows more exciting with the arrival of new neighbours, anthropologist Helena Napier and her handsome, dashing husband, Rocky – with whom Mildred fancies herself in love. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Postal Censorship
Postal censorship is the inspection or examination of mail, most often by governments. It can include opening, reading and total or selective obliteration of letters and their contents, as well as covers, postcards, parcels and other postal packets. Postal censorship takes place primarily but not exclusively during wartime (even though the nation concerned may not be at war, e.g. Ireland during 1939–1945) and periods of unrest, and occasionally at other times, such as periods of civil disorder or of a state of emergency. Both covert and overt postal censorship have occurred. Historically, postal censorship is an ancient practice; it is usually linked to espionage and intelligence gathering. Both civilian mail and military mail may be subject to censorship, and often different organisations perform censorship of these types of mail. In 20th-century wars the objectives of postal censorship encompassed economic warfare, security and intelligence. The study of postal censorsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil To Strangers
''Civil to Strangers and Other Writings'' is a collection of novels and short stories by Barbara Pym, published posthumously. Publication history When Pym died in 1980, she had published 9 novels and a small number of short stories. After Pym's death, her literary executors were her sister, Hilary Pym, and her good friend and fellow novelist Hazel Holt. They aimed to release much of Pym's unpublished material. This included three complete novels, '' An Unsuitable Attachment, Crampton Hodnet'' and '' An Academic Question''. Pym's notebooks and diaries were published in 1984. ''Civil to Strangers and other Writings'' was the final volume released, collecting some of her remaining material. It was released by Macmillan in England, and E.P. Dutton in the United States, both in 1987. The volume contains one full-length novel, three incomplete novellas, four short stories, and a transcript of a radio talk. ''Civil to Strangers'' was positively reviewed by the ''New York Times'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, and specialised in the publication of high-quality literature, nonfiction, and popular fiction, including crime, detective, mystery, thriller, and science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership passed to his daughter, Livia, who in 1989 sold it to Houghton Mifflin. Three years later in October 1992, Houghton Mifflin sold Gollancz to the publishing house Cassell & Co. Cassell and its parent company Orion Publishing Group were acquired by Hachette in 1996, and in December 1998 the merged Orion/Cassell group turned Gollancz into its science fiction/fantasy imprint. Origins as a political house Gollancz was left-inclined in politics and a supporter of socialist movements. This is reflected in some of the call for the books he publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Some Tame Gazelle
''Some Tame Gazelle'' is Barbara Pym's first novel, originally published in 1950. The title of the book is taken from the poem "Something to Love" by Thomas Haynes Bayly, and the work of other English poets is frequently referenced during the course of the story. First started during Pym's period studying at Oxford University, it contains many sly references to those she knew there. Plot The novel details episodes in the life of Belinda Bede, a spinster now in her fifties who shares a house with her younger, more dominant but equally unmarried sister Harriet. Since her university days, Belinda has loved the village's Archdeacon Hoccleve, with whom she studied then, although he had preferred to marry the better connected Agatha, a bishop's daughter. Harriet's preference has always been to look after the welfare of young curates, although her admirer in the village is the Italian Count Ricardo Bianco, who regularly proposes marriage to her. At the time the story begins, Mr Donn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honor Wyatt
Honor Ellen Wyatt (6 February 1910 – 23 October 1998) was an English journalist and radio presenter, known for her association with Barbara Pym, Robert Graves and Laura Riding as well as for her own work. She was the mother of the actor Julian Glover and the musician Robert Wyatt. She was born Honor Ellen Wyatt; through her father, she was a second cousin of politician Woodrow Wyatt. Through her work at the BBC, Wyatt met the producer C. Gordon Glover, who became her husband. They had two children, Julian and Prudence. During the 1930s, Wyatt and her husband lived in Majorca, where they became acquainted with the poets Robert Graves and Laura Riding, who had set up home there. Wyatt contributed to ''Epilogue'', the periodical published by Riding and Graves, and her novel, ''The Heathen'', was published by the Seizin Press which they ran. During the Second World War, the Glovers separated, and Wyatt went to work for the BBC in Bristol, as a scriptwriter for the Childr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Glover
Claud Gordon Glover (7 June 1908 – 1 March 1975) was a British writer, particularly for radio, as well as some novels. Early life Glover was born in Edinburgh in 1908, the son of William Gordon Glover (1879-1945), an engineer, and his wife Florence Edith (née Hardie) (1878-1956). His grandfather, Thomas Craigie Glover, was an Indian railway contractor. An aunt, Ann Liston Glover, married Lt-Gen Sir Frederick McCracken. Career Glover was a BBC radio producer and presenter. One of his last radio broadcasts was an episode of ''The Countryside in Summer'', broadcast in 1974. He wrote articles for ''The Country Gentleman'' magazine under the pen name of Julian Grey. He wrote short stories and articles for various publications, including the ''Australian Woman's Mirror'', '' Lilliput'', the '' Radio Times'', Byrne, Paula, ''The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym'', (2021: William Collins), p 335. and the '' Wireless Weekly''. His first two novels were published by Geoffrey Bles, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Amery
Harold Julian Amery, Baron Amery of Lustleigh, (27 March 1919 – 3 September 1996) was a British Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 39 of the 42 years between 1950 and 1992. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1960. Amery was created a life peer upon his retirement from the House of Commons in 1992. For three decades, he was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club. He was the son-in-law of Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan. His brother, John, was hanged for high treason for supporting Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the Second World War. Early and family life Amery was born in Chelsea, London. His father was Leo Amery, a British statesman and Conservative politician. He was educated at Eaton House, Summer Fields School, Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. While an undergraduate, he had a brief romance with the future novelist Barbara Pym, who was six years his senior. Military service Before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rupert Gleadow
Rupert Seeley Gleadow (22 January 1909 – 30 October 1974) was a British lawyer and author, who wrote on legal matters under the name of Justin Case. He also wrote extensively on astrology. Gleadow was born in Leicester, the son of Frank and Mary Phyllis Gleadow (née Seeley), and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In his younger days he had a relationship with future novelist Barbara Pym. He married twice, having one daughter with his first wife Marguerite Rendu, and then marrying a painter named Helen Cooke Helen was the daughter of George Albert Cooke, and sister in law of Cecil Harmsworth King Cecil Harmsworth King (20 February 1901 – 17 April 1987) was Chairman of Daily Mirror Newspapers, Sunday Pictorial Newspapers and the International Publishing Corporation (1963–1968), and a director at the Bank of England (1965–1968). Bio .... Gleadow died in London, aged 65. Bibliography * ''Astrology of Everyday Life'' Faber, 1940 * ''Origin of the Zodiac'' Cape, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen's Park, London
Queen's Park is an area located partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Brent. Some of the area within Westminster forms a civil parish, the first to be created in London since the right of communities to establish civil parishes was enacted in 2007. The area is located north-west of Charing Cross, and centred around a park, which opened in 1887 and was named in honour of Queen Victoria. The area gives its name to Queens Park Rangers football club. Architecturally, Queen's Park is an important historic area, with a unified urban layout with a high level of building preservation. The park is a good example of a Victorian urban green space, and the surrounding streets largely comprise original two- and three-storey Victorian buildings. Administration and representation Administrative background Queens Park has never been an administrative unit and so it has never had formally defined boundaries; but it's roots lie in the ancient parishes of Willesde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pimlico
Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victoria Station, by the River Thames to the south, Vauxhall Bridge Road to the east and the former Grosvenor Canal to the west. At its heart is a grid of residential streets laid down by the planner Thomas Cubitt, beginning in 1825 and now protected as the Pimlico Conservation Area. The most prestigious are those on garden squares, with buildings decreasing in grandeur away from St George's Square, Warwick Square, Eccleston Square and the main thoroughfares of Belgrave Road and St. George's Drive. Additions have included the pre–World War II Dolphin Square and the Churchill Gardens and Lillington and Longmoore Gardens estates, now conservation areas in their own right. The area has over 350 Grade II listed buildings and several Grade II* ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavior, while cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. A portmanteau term sociocultural anthropology is commonly used today. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans. Archaeological anthropology, often termed as 'anthropology of the past', studies human activity through investigation of physical evidence. It is considered a branch of anthropology in North America and Asia, while in Europe archaeology is viewed as a discipline in its own right or grouped under other related disciplines, such as history and palaeontology. Etymology The abstract noun '' anthropology'' is first attested in refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
