Some Tame Gazelle

"Some Tame Gazelle" by Barbara Pym is a hilarious and heartwarming novel that follows the lives of the Misses Bede, two sisters in a parish, and their encounters with a famous librarian and a bishop from Africa. It is full of sparkling high comedy and memorable characters that make readers smile, laugh out loud, and consider their own foibles and fantasies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 02 June 2022
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym, Richard Osman. She is a rare treasure, reminding us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life. Anne Tyler. Together yet alone, the Misses Bede occupy the central crossroads of parish life. Harriet, plump, elegant, and jolly, likes nothing better than to fuss over new curates, secure in the knowledge that Count Ricardo Bianco will propose to her yet again this year. Belinda, meanwhile, has harboured sober feelings of devotion towards Archdeacon Hoccleve for thirty years.

Then into their quiet, comfortable lives comes a famous librarian, Nathaniel Mold, and a bishop from Africa, Theodore Grote - who each takes to calling on the sisters for rather more unsettling reasons.

Some Tame Gazelle is my personal favourite for its sparkling high comedy and its treasury of characters. . . [Pym] makes me smile, laugh out loud, consider my own foibles and fantasies, and, above all, suffer real regret when I reach the final page. Of how many authors can you honestly say that?

Weight: 216g
Dimension: 126 x 198 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780349016108