SOURCE: "Narrow, Splendid Work," in Commonweal, May 8, 1981, pp. 284-5.

In the following review, Phillips praises the posthumous publication of A Few Green Leaves.

Barbara Pym died on January 11 of last year, in a small Oxfordshire village cottage which she had come to share with her sister. At the time of her death, her books were much in demand in her country, and were finding an audience in America. And therein lies a terrible irony.

Between 1950 and 1961, Miss Pym published six novels, including Excellent Women (1952), Less Than Angels (1955), A Glass of Blessings (1958), and No Fond Return of Love (1961). But when she presented her next manuscript, it was rejected by no less than twenty publishers. She was dropped, called "out of date." She retreated into silence, presumably not writing, and supporting herself as an assistant editor for the quarterly Africa. For sixteen years she published no fiction. Then, in 1977, both...