An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym

 In her house Ianthe made a determined effort to pull herself together, as her upbringing and training told her that she should.  She bathed her eyes and face in cold water, changed into a cotton dress and comfortable sandals, and went into the garden.  She did not fling herself down on the grass as Penelope might have done, but lay in a deckchair with her eyes closed.  If only she could have loved Rupert Stonebird!  Could she not even now, by some effort of the will, turn her thoughts towards him and make herself care for him?  It would be much easier to love Rupert than to love Mervyn, she thought..                                                                                                                                                      Barbara Pym, An Unsuitable Attachment (E.P. Dutton, 1983)

Pym published six novels through 1961 but was unable to find a publisher for An Unsuitable Attachment in 1963 and it was not published until 1983 (Pym died in 1980. after publishing three novels in the 1970's).  Pym, like many great writers, portrays a world of her own, populated by Anglican clergy, spinsters and unrequited loves (no wonder everyone except Philip Larkin thought An Unsuitable Attachment was too old-fashioned for the 60's), a world in which everyone is trying too hard to do the right thing.  At the center of An Unsuitable Attachment is Ianthe Broome who works in a library and falls in love with fellow librarian John Challow, while head librarian Mervyn Cantrell and anthropologist Rubert Stonebird also attempt to court her.  Meanwhile Mark Ainger, rector of St. Basil's church in North London, and his wife Sophia are looking for someone suitable to marry Sophia's sister Penelope, who is not sure she wants to marry at all.

This makes for effectively droll comedy, as Pym lets us know what everyone is thinking, even if they don't share their thoughts with anyone else.  There is a particularly amusing section where Mark, Sophia and the parishoners of St.Basil's visit Rome and misunderstandings arise, such as when Rubert calls Penelope "a jolly little thing" as he is maneuvering to kiss her. Pym's world, like that of P.G. Wodehouse -- and I intend this as a compliment -- does not change when the world changes.