Barbara Pym was an English novelist, specialising in social comedies, who has been likened to Jane Austen. In 1977, Lord David Cecil and Philip Larkin nominated her "the most underrated writer of the century". During this course we will be considering two of her novels: 'Excellent Women' (1952) and 'A Glass of Blessings' (1958). If time, we will also read a third novel. We will examine the novels individually and in relation to each other, exploring such themes as unrequited love, homosexuality, the Anglican church in the 1950s, intertextuality and anthropology. At each seminar there will be a short introductory talk followed by lively class discussion.