Philip Hensher

An unsuitable attachment to Nazism: Barbara Pym in the 1930s

Paula Byrne has unearthed some alarming information about the novelist known for her wry portrayals of English village life

Barbara Pym (far right) sunbathing with German friends. Credit: The Barbara Pym Society 
issue 17 April 2021

Novelists’ careers take different paths, and sometimes don’t look much like careers at all. It’s true that some start publishing between 25 and 35, and write a novel respectably every two or three years until they die, like Kingsley Amis. Others don’t start until they are 60, like Penelope Fitzgerald, or stop abruptly without warning, like Henry Green, or write one novel and no more, like Harper Lee.

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