A Glass of Blessings (1958)

I discovered Barbara Pym about two years ago, picking up one of her books at the Goodwill. Now I've read them all, including her published diaries, and this was the final book I hadn't read. It was as good as all her novels but not my favorite. The heroine is Wilmet, a married woman who becomes infatuated with a friend's brother, who turns out to be gay. All of this is rendered with dry humor and a complete lack of melodrama; its subtlety, considering the subject matter, is almost a problem in the case of this book, and Wilmet was not as interesting to me as some other Pym heroines. Maybe it was because she was married, an unusual state for one of Pym's lead ladies. There were multiple funny scenes and endearing characters, however, including Wilmet's mother-in-law, Sybil, one of the funniest older ladies in a Pym book.

Seriously, as much as I enjoy watching new versions of Jane Austen novels every year on PBS, I wish the BBC would adapt some of these books. They'd make great television. Make it happen, Andrew Davies.