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An Academic Question cover art

An Academic Question

By: Barbara Pym, Kate Saunders - introduction
Narrated by: Jilly Bond
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Summary

Introduced by Kate Saunders.

In a provincial university town, Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied faculty wife, becomes the unwilling accomplice to her husband Alan's ambitions. When she volunteers to read to a blind esteemed anthropologist in a nursing home, Alan seizes the opportunity to steal his papers—research that could both advance his reputation while refuting the findings of a respected colleague. A delightful comedy of manners with a touch of mystery, An Academic Question is prime Barbara Pym territory.  
©1986 The Estate Of Barbara Pym (P)2022 Hachette Audio UK
Classics Small Town & Rural Literature & Fiction
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Critic reviews

"She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life." (Anne Tyler)

"Beneath the gentle surfaces of her novels is a slow-building comedy, salt wit in a saline drip." (New York Times)

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Profile Image for Mama Lucy

Hmmmm.

I like Barbara Pym a lot.
But although this was VERY well read, the ‘I’ of the book irritated me a lot. I know she’s a disempowered under-confident person. But give me Fanny Price any day!
Pym may have been aiming at a passive feminism, but to compare her to Austen,
as people have, makes me think they hadn’t read this one.
What do YOU think?


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