The phrase "excellent woman," mentioned numerous times by several characters, refers to a type of lady common to all times in England, America, and elsewhere. As represented by the narrator Mildred Lathbury, she is a cultured, comfortably off spinster, living a quiet life alone, devoted to the church and to such everyday social occasions as having tea with friends, or attending "jumble" (rummage) sales. Everyone calls them "excellent women" which, to the narrator, is a synonym for virtuous dullness. Such women are usually not considered dynamic enough to be central characters in fiction, and Pym's fondness for them is one reason her books went out of style for so long.