Quartet in Autumn
Encyclopedia
Quartet in Autumn is a novel
by Barbara Pym
, first published in 1977 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was Pym's comeback novel after fifteen years of publishing rejections, following a successful record as a novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s. As a novel, it represents a departure from her earlier excursions into light comedy, being the story of four office workers on the verge of retirement.
All four find retirement difficult to cope with, but the effects are most noticeable for the eccentric Marcia. She gradually withdraws from the outside world, gives up eating, and eventually dies in pathetic circumstances. She has unexpectedly left her estate to Norman, in whom she had indulged a brief and secret romantic interest. When Marjorie's fiancé deserts her for a younger widow, Letty has the opportunity to take the country cottage after all. By now she has come to terms with retirement and does not move. At the end of the book, she is considering whether to introduce Edwin and Norman to Marjorie in the hope of matchmaking.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Barbara Pym
Barbara Pym
Barbara Mary Crampton Pym was an English novelist. In 1977 her career was revived when two prominent writers, Lord David Cecil and Philip Larkin, nominated her as the most underrated writer of the century...
, first published in 1977 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was Pym's comeback novel after fifteen years of publishing rejections, following a successful record as a novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s. As a novel, it represents a departure from her earlier excursions into light comedy, being the story of four office workers on the verge of retirement.
Plot summary
Marcia, Letty, Norman and Edwin all work together in the same office, are all unmarried (Edwin being a widower) and have all reached retirement age. Letty, the "heroine" of the book, has plans to share a country retreat with her old friend, Marjorie, but her hopes are dashed when Marjorie suddenly announces that she is to marry a clergyman some years younger than herself.All four find retirement difficult to cope with, but the effects are most noticeable for the eccentric Marcia. She gradually withdraws from the outside world, gives up eating, and eventually dies in pathetic circumstances. She has unexpectedly left her estate to Norman, in whom she had indulged a brief and secret romantic interest. When Marjorie's fiancé deserts her for a younger widow, Letty has the opportunity to take the country cottage after all. By now she has come to terms with retirement and does not move. At the end of the book, she is considering whether to introduce Edwin and Norman to Marjorie in the hope of matchmaking.