A Comedy of Manners by Mari Howard (Clare Weiner)
Essential (thatched) Cottages In the wilds of Oxfordshire, there is a village: we could call this village a microcosm of its county, even of its country. Which is the country of Lord Peter Wimsey , Bertie Wooster , all of the Agatha Christie murders you can think of (and possibly a few more) and of many distressed gentlefolk and frustrated spinsters. It is as they say, the quintessential English (note, not British) place to find many fictional characters. It is called Crampton Hodnet, and is the fictional abode of various characters from the imagination of Miss Barbara Pym. This past week, a new biography of Pym (2 June 1913 – 11 January 1980) was read, in 15 minute slots, on BBC Radio 4. Having read Crampton Hodnet many years ago (my sister-in-law had a copy, and decided we all needed to know more about the doings of typical inhabitants of perfect English villages, so pressed it upon me). I was curious to know more about Pym, whom I admit I have not read (apart from one other)...