Cornflower Books

A loyal and fervent advocate

   

    A letter from Philip Larkin to his Faber editor Charles Monteith, the latter having turned down Barbara Pym's latest novel An Unsuitable Attachment:

   ' "... what I feel is this: by all means turn it down if you think it's a bad book of its kind, but please don't turn it down because it's the kind of book it is ... Personally, too, I feel it is a great shame if ordinary sane novels about ordinary sane people doing ordinary sane things can't find a publisher these days. This is the tradition of Jane Austen and Trollope and I refuse to believe that no one wants its successors today."

    Larkin was writing his own manifesto: "I like to read about people who have done nothing spectacular, who aren't beautiful or lucky." He wanted to read about people who can see "in little autumnal moments of vision, that the so called big experiences of life are going to miss them". That such things "are presented not with self-pity or despair or romanticism, but with realistic firmness and even humour." Larkin, now excessively riled, went out on a limb, saying that this was the "kind of writing a responsible publisher ought to support (that's you, Charles!)".  ...

    Monteith had suggested that Pym had not sufficiently developed as a writer, but Larkin was having none of it: "I think development is a bit of a myth; lots of writers don't develop, such as Thomas Hardy or P.G. Wodehouse, nor do we want them to. That is how I feel about Miss Pym." '

    From The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne.

    As we know, Barbara Pym did not remain out of favour for she went on to be (re-)published to great acclaim, but it was Larkin's championing of her, along with Lord David Cecil's, that eventually turned the tide.

Recent acquisitions

    I bought these the other day, posted them on Instagram, and got so many comments raving about The Other Bennet Sister. Have you read it - or any of the others?

Still here!

   

    I'm not sure where the weeks have gone, but I am still here and have books to talk about. There will be posts coming on recent good reads, Devorgilla Days by Kathleen Hart and White Spines by Nicholas Royle, but for today, a word or two on a few others.

    After long being on my radar I've now read my first Louise Penny: I thoroughly enjoyed Still Life, especially its village setting and central character Inspector Gamache, and despite a bit of an over-stretched plot device I am definitely in the market for the next in the series.

    Anthony Horowitz's The Word is Murder was cleverly done, with the author putting himself into the book as an aide to an investigating officer. I don't read much crime, but this struck me as a nice twist on the norm.

    Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime edited by HRF Keating is a reprint with a new introduction by Sophie Hannah. To get the most out of it you'd probably need a closer acquaintance with Dame Agatha's work than I have, but nonetheless it includes many interesting observations on what makes her the famous and enduring success she is.

    On to another huge bestseller: Rosamunde Pilcher. I recently re-read The Shell Seekers with much pleasure. It's a warm bath of a book, immersive and comforting, but what struck me was the editorial licence it displayed - nowadays a similar manuscript would be extensively pruned.

    As to current reading, I've just begun Ruby Ferguson's Apricot Sky and I'm delighted so far. It looks like being a sweet and happy story and has already had me laughing out loud. Stay tuned ...