Excellent Women

By: Barbara Pym

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym's richest and most amusing high comedies. This is Barbara Pym's world at its funniest.

Mildred Lathbury is a clergyman's daughter and a mild-mannered spinster in 1950s England. She is one of those excellent women - the smart, supportive, repressed women whom men take for granted. As Mildred gets embroiled in the lives of her new neighbors - anthropologist Helena Napier; Helen's handsome, dashing husband, Rocky; and Julian Malory, the vicar next door - the novel presents a series of snapshots of human life as actually, and pluckily, lived in a vanishing world of manners and repressed desires.

©2016 Barbara Pym (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

sublime!

Barbara Pym is a writer with a very special worldview and a distinctive sense of humor. Jayne Entwistle as narrator proves to be a perfect match. I recommend this recording both to those who already know and love Pym and to those discovering her for the first time (as long as they realize that the charms on offer here are of the most delicate variety -- BP is not for those who want a lot of upheavals in their plots!).

Perfect snapshot of a woman in time

This was my introduction to Pym. She perfectly captures a young (30) single woman’s life, daughter of a clergyman, in a narrow slice of postwar London. The audio of this book was slightly tedious at times & the rendition of male voices by the female narrator was rather grating. But the writing & the perspective were spot on. A gem of a story.

Gossip that rambled aimlessly without plot.

Meh. I got what I paid for. Glad it was on sale. Reader was good. Characters were quaint and petty.

As much a pleasure as reading the book

Would you consider the audio edition of Excellent Women to be better than the print version?

Reading is always a pleasure but I have read it at least 4 times. Listening (twice) was glorious as well.

What does Jayne Entwistle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She does voices quite nicely. Perhaps not how I'd imagined but nice enough.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"The Dominion of the Birds, I very much fear it's come to that!"

Any additional comments?

I wish all her books were available to be listened to.

Nice book

Enjoyed the story and the different characters displayed by the narrator. Good humor and description of the women and men in this book. I became attached to the characters and their personality.

An Excellent Novel

Barbara Pym is very funny, although in a very dry way as if she were completely unaware of her humor. One of the men who is tangentially involved with her heroine, Mildred Lathbury, for instance, is named Everard Bone, and he tries to get Mildred to come to his apartment and roast his meat. This seems flagrantly obscene to me, but Pym is always completely straight-faced , as if any improper thoughts in this direction never crossed her mind.

Excellent Book!

Pym's ability to weave vivid and living characters is simply amazing. You get drawn into this book like you are living along with Mildred. Larkin called Pym the most underestimated novelist of the century. Read this and find out why!

Terrific reading of Pym's sly, hilarious novel

Would you consider the audio edition of Excellent Women to be better than the print version?

Both are faithful to the other.

What other book might you compare Excellent Women to and why?

Pride and Predjudice. Clergyman's daughter, Mildred Lathbury, is as obtuse as Elizabeth Bennett when it comes to seeing that a man adores her.

Which character – as performed by Jayne Entwistle – was your favorite?

All of them! Entwistle does a great job with the whole ensemble.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No--I wanted to stretch it out as long as possible

Any additional comments?

I only wish there were more of Barbara Pym's novels available as audiobooks/

A small story written in a big way.

I haven't listened to a book on Audible that I've enjoyed as much as this one in a very long time. No car crashes, no unbelievable happenings, no vampires or zombies. Just a lovely story about women, and in particular one woman, living in London, post two world wars and written so beautifully that one recognizes the emotions, the uncertainties and the realization that not being a wife does not diminish the life of a woman - she can still be an excellent woman. I could not stop listening to this gem.

Clever Slice of Life that belongs in your library

This story alone is a wonderful read and the narrator makes it a wonderful experience!