What is Felicity & Barbara Pym about? It’s about literature. It’s about reading. It’s about writing. It’s about becoming educated, about not assuming things aren’t happening just because you don’t see them happening, about not ever believing that language is a true vehicle for communication – and it’s about knowing that sometimes, in order to get a true education, you have to turn to your butcher.
A beautifully observed blend between fiction and non-fiction, Harrison Solow’s book is written as a series of letters from teacher Mallory Cooper to her student Felicity, as she discovers Pym’s work. In their letters to each other, narrator and student discuss and debate British literary fiction and discover together, and through Felicity’s eyes we are treated to a fresh view of our favourite novelists: George Eliot, Jane Austen, D. H. Lawrence and, of course, Barbara Pym.
"Original, controversial, academic, readable, serious, light-hearted, sensible, charming - there is no end to the words that could be applied to Felicity and Barbara Pym... The underlying premise of this splendid book is the importance of the appreciation of literature... Students and tutors and, indeed, everyone who has ever found enjoyment in reading, will be grateful for this delightful book."
Hazel Holt
"... a dazzling performance, and it fills me with the most exquisite professional envy!"
Thomas Vinciguerra, The Week
"A fascinating, intriguing presentation which demands a sequel."
Dr Christopher Terry, Cambridge University
"Although we read only one side of the correspondence, we see both minds at work - the student's untrained assumptions... refined by the professor's cool, witty (and occasionally snobbish) demands for clear-eyed analysis, precise thought and appreciative intelligence. ... Lucky for us that Cinnamon Press has made it into a book for the common reader."
Mayo Simon, author of The Audience & The Playwright
"... seamlessly weaves form and content... masterfully done."
Heather Hughes, Harvard University Press
"Barbara Pym for the 21st century."
Linda McDougall
Harrison Solow is a distinguished writer, university lecturer and creative consultant to a wide variety of institutions worldwide. Her works of poetry, fiction and non-fiction have been widely published in the UK and North America, receiving awards such as the 2008 Pushcart Prize (for the forthcoming Bendithion), the 2007 Leaf Books Award for Poetry, and the 2008 Cinnamon Press Award and 2006 Abroad International Award for Short Fiction. In 2009 she resigned from her university commitments to focus on her interest in liminal (fiction/non-fiction) literature. Her latest award is First Prize, Short Fiction, in the Carpe Articulum International Competition for Short Fiction for her story, Mater Amabilis.
A beautifully observed blend between fiction and non-fiction, Harrison Solow’s book is written as a series of letters from teacher Mallory Cooper to her student Felicity, as she discovers Pym’s work. In their letters to each other, narrator and student discuss and debate British literary fiction and discover together, and through Felicity’s eyes we are treated to a fresh view of our favourite novelists: George Eliot, Jane Austen, D. H. Lawrence and, of course, Barbara Pym.
"Original, controversial, academic, readable, serious, light-hearted, sensible, charming - there is no end to the words that could be applied to Felicity and Barbara Pym... The underlying premise of this splendid book is the importance of the appreciation of literature... Students and tutors and, indeed, everyone who has ever found enjoyment in reading, will be grateful for this delightful book."
Hazel Holt
"... a dazzling performance, and it fills me with the most exquisite professional envy!"
Thomas Vinciguerra, The Week
"A fascinating, intriguing presentation which demands a sequel."
Dr Christopher Terry, Cambridge University
"Although we read only one side of the correspondence, we see both minds at work - the student's untrained assumptions... refined by the professor's cool, witty (and occasionally snobbish) demands for clear-eyed analysis, precise thought and appreciative intelligence. ... Lucky for us that Cinnamon Press has made it into a book for the common reader."
Mayo Simon, author of The Audience & The Playwright
"... seamlessly weaves form and content... masterfully done."
Heather Hughes, Harvard University Press
"Barbara Pym for the 21st century."
Linda McDougall
Harrison Solow is a distinguished writer, university lecturer and creative consultant to a wide variety of institutions worldwide. Her works of poetry, fiction and non-fiction have been widely published in the UK and North America, receiving awards such as the 2008 Pushcart Prize (for the forthcoming Bendithion), the 2007 Leaf Books Award for Poetry, and the 2008 Cinnamon Press Award and 2006 Abroad International Award for Short Fiction. In 2009 she resigned from her university commitments to focus on her interest in liminal (fiction/non-fiction) literature. Her latest award is First Prize, Short Fiction, in the Carpe Articulum International Competition for Short Fiction for her story, Mater Amabilis.