A delightful comedy of manners with a touch of mystery, An Academic Question is prime Barbara Pym territory. In a provincial university town Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied faculty wife, becomes the unwilling accomplice to her husband Alan’s ambitions. When she volunteers as a reader to a blind, esteemed anthropologist, Alan seizes the opportunity to steal his papers – research that could both advance his reputation while refuting the findings of a respected colleague.
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Reviews
A modern Jane Austen
I am a huge fan of Barbara Pym
A splendid humorous writer
There is a thrill of humanity through all her work
Beneath the gentle surfaces of her novels is a slow-building comedy, salt wit in a saline drip
My favourite writer . . . I pick up her books with joy
She is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life
