A cold winter night is a welcome night for a book by Barbara Pym, the British author whose novels capture slices of life in mid-20th century England--the "chronicler of quiet lives," as one summary calls her. I have been reading her books for 20 years, but was excited to discover that she has her own scholarly society. You can find a bibliography and literary analysis, including conference proceedings, here. Pym specialized in "excellent women" in the old-fashioned sense, as this essay notes, but she sprinkled her characterizations with well-placed satire.

Women get one egg and men get two, as a matter of course. "Oh, a man needs eggs!" said Mrs. Crampton, looking pleased, when Jane noticed the larger portion on Nicholas's plate in Jane and Prudence.

For more Pym, see also this page of favorite quotes submitted by readers. Here's one (also from Jane and Prudence, which I have been rereading of late):

Miss Doggett again looked puzzled; it was as if she had heard that men only wanted one thing, but had forgotten for the moment what it was.

I raise a cup (of tea) to Pym.