 First edition | |
| Author | Barbara Pym |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
Publication date | 1978 (1st edition) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardbound) |
| Pages | 196 (1st edition) |
The Sweet Dove Died is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1978. The title is a quotation from a poem, "I Had a Dove", by John Keats.
Leonora Eyre, an attractive and elegant, but essentially selfish, middle-aged woman, becomes friendly with antique dealer Humphrey Boyce and his nephew James. Both men are attracted to Leonora, but Leonora prefers the young, good-looking James to the more "suitable" Humphrey. While James is away on a buying trip, Leonora discovers to her annoyance that he has been seeing Phoebe, a girl of his own age. Leonora makes use of Humphrey to humiliate Phoebe, and turns out a sitting tenant in order that James can take up a flat in her own house. She does this in an apparent attempt to control his life. While abroad, the bisexual James has begun a relationship with an American, the amoral Ned, who returns with him to London. Ned prises James out of Leonora's grasp, only to engage with other partners then return to the States to escape the complications. James attempts a reconciliation with Leonora, but she refuses to give him a second opportunity to hurt her, and settles for the admiration of the less attractive Humphrey.
Like all Pym's fiction, the novel contains many literary references, notably to works by Keats, John Milton and Henry James.
Pym worked intermittently on the novel in the 1960s, commencing the first draft in 1968, noting that it was darker than her previous works, which had all been in the tradition of high comedy. [1] The first (incomplete) draft was entitled Spring before Pym found her final title [2] The plot of the novel is generally believed to have been inspired by Pym's brief romance with a Bahamian antiques dealer, Richard Roberts, known to his friends as "Skipper". [3] [4]
Pym had published six novels but her seventh, An Unsuitable Attachment , had been rejected by several publishers since its completion in 1963. Pym sent the draft to her long-time correspondent, the poet Philip Larkin, who provided detailed critical suggestions. "With fewer characters & slower movement", Larkin wrote, "it could be a strong, sad book"; [5] Pym completed the rewrites in mid-1969, [6] which included reducing the roles of the characters Phoebe and Rose, and increasing the role of "horrible Ned", as well as centring the work more on the character of Leonora. [7] The novel was rejected by Macmillan in 1970, who deemed it "a risky commercial venture". [8] Pym's novels had come to be seen as old-fashioned, and out of tune with the public taste, given their delicate plots and the focus on mundane details of everyday life. A reader's report for publishing house Peter Davies Ltd described the novel as "very accomplished" but not, Pym wrote, "powerful enough or plotted enough to appeal to enough readers". [9] Thinking she might be taken more seriously as a male novelist, Pym sent the manuscript to some publishers under the name of "Tom Crampton", but it made no difference. [10] The reader at Jonathan Cape advised that "while good nature is most lovable in an author, readers unfortunately seem to relish greater asperity in their books!". [11] Ultimately 21 publishers passed on the novel, [12] and Pym moved on to her next work, An Academic Question .
In 1977, Pym was rediscovered by the literary public after being praised in a special edition of the Times Literary Supplement , and her latest novel, Quartet in Autumn , was accepted by Macmillan. Before Quartet had even been published, Macmillan accepted Sweet Dove as well. [13] Quartet was nominated for the 1977 Booker Prize, which further increased public interest in Pym's work. She expressed some trepidation about how audiences would take the new novel, as it was both very different in tone to Quartet and unlike her earlier novels ("there are no clergy in it" [14] ).
The Sweet Dove Died was published in England by Macmillan in 1978 and in the United States by E.P. Dutton in 1979. The novel was released as an audiobook in 1993 by Chivers Press, read by Sheila Hancock. [15] The novel was published in Dutch in 1987 as En mijn duifje ging heen, in Italy in 1991 as Se una dolce colomba, in Spain as Murió la dulce paloma , in France as La douce colombe est morte, and in Germany as Das Täubchen (Little Dove).
The book was widely praised by critics, including The Times and The Guardian , and reached No. 3 on the Sunday Times Bestsellers List. [16] Kirkus Reviews was less positive, admiring the author's use of language but ultimately defining the novel as "sad, rather superficial". [17] As Pym had predicted, some long-standing Pym readers were disappointed by the less overtly comic tone of the book, compared with her earlier novels. However, it is generally recognised as one of her best-constructed and most mature works. [18] Mason Cooley has described it as "the most brilliant success of Barbara Pym's career". [19]
Pym's characters often reappear throughout her work. Coming at the end of her career, there are fewer connections between The Sweet Dove Died and the rest of Pym's oeuvre, but the character of Ned reappears in the 1979 short story Across a Crowded Room, commissioned by The New Yorker , which is collected in the volume Civil to Strangers . 'Mrs Ainger' (Sophia) from An Unsuitable Attachment is mentioned.
In 2014, the novel was adapted for the stage in a musical entitled The Mirror Never Lies, with book and lyrics by Joe Giuffre and music by Juan Iglesias. The production was first staged in concert in New York City and Los Angeles in 2014 [20] before a full production at The Cockpit in London in 2015. The London production received mixed-to-negative reviews. [21] [22] [23]
Barbara Mary Crampton Pym was an English novelist. In the 1950s she published a series of social comedies, of which the best known are Excellent Women (1952) and A Glass of Blessings (1958). In 1977 her career was revived when the critic Lord David Cecil and the poet Philip Larkin both nominated her as the most underrated writer of the century. Her novel Quartet in Autumn (1977) was nominated for the Booker Prize that year, and she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Excellent Women, the second published novel by Barbara Pym, first appeared from Jonathan Cape in 1952. A novel of manners, it is generally acclaimed as her funniest and most successful in that genre.
Quartet in Autumn is a novel by British novelist Barbara Pym, first published in 1977. It was highly praised and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the top literary prize in the UK. This was considered a comeback novel for Pym; she had fallen out of favour as styles changed, and her work had been rejected by publishers for 15 years. This followed her successful record as a novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s. As a novel, it represents a departure from her earlier style of light comedy, as it is the story of four office workers on the verge of retirement.
Some Tame Gazelle is Barbara Pym's first novel, originally published in 1950.
Charlotte Mary Yonge was an English novelist, who wrote in the service of the church. Her abundant books helped to spread the influence of the Oxford Movement and show her keen interest in matters of public health and sanitation.
No Fond Return of Love is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1961.
(John) Robert Liddell was an English literary critic, biographer, novelist, travel writer and poet.
Less Than Angels is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1955.
A Glass of Blessings is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1958. It deals with the growing estrangement of a well-to-do married couple and the means by which harmony is restored.
Crampton Hodnet is a comic novel by Barbara Pym, published posthumously in 1985, and originally written in 1940.
An Unsuitable Attachment is a novel by Barbara Pym, written in 1963 and published posthumously in 1982.
Thomas Michael Maschler was a British publisher and writer. From 1960, he was influential as the head of publishing company Jonathan Cape over a period of more than three decades. Maschler was noted for instituting the Booker Prize for British, Irish and Commonwealth literature in 1969. He was involved in publishing the works of many notable authors, including Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Heller, Gabriel García Márquez, John Lennon, Ian McEwan, Bruce Chatwin and Salman Rushdie.
Jane and Prudence is the third novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1953.
Patricia Valeria Bannister was a writer of historical romance fiction from 1978 until 2002. She wrote under the names Patricia Veryan and Gwyneth Moore.
Civil to Strangers and Other Writings is a collection of novels and short stories by Barbara Pym, published posthumously.
An Academic Question is a novel by Barbara Pym, written in the early 1970s and published posthumously in 1986.
A Few Green Leaves is the final novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1980, the year of Pym's death. Although several novels were published posthumously, A Few Green Leaves was the final novel she worked on.
A Very Private Eye: An Autobiography in Diaries and Letters is a 1984 publication of writings by the English novelist Barbara Pym. Released after Pym's death, the volume was edited by Pym's sister Hilary and her literary executor Hazel Holt.
À La Pym: The Barbara Pym Cookery Book is a 1988 cookbook by Hilary Pym and Honor Wyatt collecting recipes for meals served, or mentioned, in the novels of Hilary's sister, Barbara Pym. The book was published in the United States by E.P. Dutton in 1988, and in the United Kingdom by Prospect Books in 1995.
Inside Story is an autobiographical novel by the English author Martin Amis, published in 2020. It was Amis' final novel to be published before his death in 2023.
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