Less than Angels

Title: Less than Angels

Author: Barbara Pym

Publication date: 1955

Book's setting: The 1950's

Random facts: Pym worked for a while at the African Institute of London, and a lot of this book was based on her experiences there.

Plot summary: Let me start by introducing you to some of the characters. We can start with three young archeology students- Deirdre, Mark, and Digby. Then there is Tom. He's working on his thesis and is supposedly very brilliant, but Digby and Mark doubt this sometimes. Catherine is his partner. She writes stories and keeps house for Tom. Then there are a few linguists and some worried mothers and aunts. And a brother and an awful fiance. And a flame from the past. Oh yeah, and your token crazy Frenchman. Who is in love with who? Where is the grant money going? Will Tom ever finish his thesis? Who's going to Africa? And how will Tom eat without Catherine? For a romance, this is high-adventure.

Favorite aspects: The characters, obviously. The way their lives are knit together. Pym's foreshadowing. The way you get a little peak into everyone's head. Her hilarious plot and witty asides. She has lots of foils, which is one of those literary things that I love. Catherine and Deirdre play well off each other. I don't want to give anything away, but my favorite thing about this book, and I think the aspect of it that reflects best on Pym's abilities as an author, are the two twists in the end. They're insane and jaw dropping and come out of nowhere. And both of them, once you get over your initial horror, deflate. And you realize that everyone's better off this way anyway. Less than Angels is a spectacularly planned novel.

Least favorite aspects: It was too short. Um.

Other works it reminded me of: Leave it to Psmith by PG Wodehouse; Cotillion by Georgette Heyer.

Sadie's merciless break-down: It surprises me sometimes, the books I'm drawn to. On the surface Less than Angels isn't much more than an amusing British romance. Frivolous and fun. And yet I can hardly find a fault with it. It might be the coolest thing I've read in ages. Pym is a master, she's got the POWER that Wodehouse had thirty years before. She's been called a modern Jane Austen, but that's hardly an accurate comparison. Austen is dry and rude. Pym is simply hysterical. She has the magic touch that makes this novel simply better than you'd think by reading a synopsis or looking at the dingy cover of the copy the BPL sent me. I have only read two of her books, but I've already decided that Barbara Pym is not nearly as well known as she should be. Can someone reprint her novels with candy-colored covers and put them on a perky display in Barnes and Nobles? I think that's where they should be, not in the Main Branch Library's storage. I'm so thankful that I have a mom who read a lot and shares it all with me.
I normally don't like reading quotes out of context, but I want you to get an idea of the flavor of Less than Angels. This is found on the first page- it's been a while since something got to me so quickly. "She poured herself another cup of tea which had become dark and stewed, as she preferred it. She felt no guilt, sitting idly at her table in the window, watching the sun streaming through the amethyst and gold stained-glass borders, while everyone around her gulped and hurried to catch trains home, for she earned her living writing stories and articles for women's magazine and had to draw her inspiration from everyday life, though life itself was sometimes too strong and raw and must be made palatable by fancy, as tough meat may be made tender by mincing. "

Recommendation rate: READ IT. THAT'S ALL.