Order of Book Series
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Barbara Pym Books in Order

14 books are credited to Barbara Pym, published between 1950 and 1988; 5 of them appeared after Barbara Pym's death in 1980. The first book is Some Tame Gazelle (1950) and the newest is Civil to Strangers and Other Writings (1988). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
14
Published
1950–1988
Pages on record
2,158 in 8 of 14 books
Reading time
36–54 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,158 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 8 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable Barbara Pym checklist

Between 1950 and 1961 Barbara Pym published a run of English social comedies, of which Excellent Women (1952) and A Glass of Blessings (1958) are the best known. Publishers then rejected her for years, until in 1977 the critic David Cecil and the poet Philip Larkin named her the most underrated writer of the previous 75 years. Quartet in Autumn (1977) went on to a Booker Prize nomination, and Pym was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She lived from 1913 to 1980, and her 14 catalogued titles close with Civil to Strangers and Other Writings (1988).

How many Barbara Pym books are there?

Barbara Pym has 14 books, released between 1950 and 1988. 5 of them were published after Barbara Pym's death in 1980.

Barbara Pym Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 Barbara Pym books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym (1950)
  2. Cover of Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (1952)
  3. Cover of Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym (1953)
  4. Cover of No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym (1961)
  5. Cover of Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (1977)
  6. Cover of The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym (1978)
  7. Cover of A Very Private Eye by Barbara Pym (1984)
  8. Cover of Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym (1985)
  9. Cover of An Academic Question by Barbara Pym (1986)
  10. Cover of Civil to Strangers and Other Writings by Barbara Pym (1988)
  1. 1
    Some Tame Gazelle1950 · 252 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1950252
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Excellent Women1952 · 231 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1952231
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Jane and Prudence1953 · 222 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1953222
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Less Than Angels1955 · confirmed 2/4
    1955–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    A Glass of Blessings1958 · confirmed 2/4
    1958–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    No Fond Return of Love1961 · confirmed 2/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Quartet in Autumn1977 · confirmed 2/4
    1977–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Sweet Dove Died1978 · 176 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    A Few Green Leaves1980 · 250 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1980250
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    An Unsuitable AttachmentPerennial Library #241982 · confirmed 2/4
    1982–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    A Very Private Eye1984 · 358 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984358
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Crampton Hodnet1985 · 271 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985271
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    An Academic Question1986 · confirmed 2/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Civil to Strangers and Other Writings1988 · 398 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1988398
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Barbara Pym books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Perennial Library in order

1 book
  1. 24. An Unsuitable Attachment

Standalone books

13 books

13 Barbara Pym titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Barbara Pym Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Barbara Pym books run from Some Tame Gazelle (1950) to Civil to Strangers and Other Writings (1988), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Barbara Pym in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Barbara Pym books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 14 Barbara Pym books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Barbara Pym

Start with Some Tame Gazelle (1950), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Barbara Pym book?

Civil to Strangers and Other Writings (1988) is the newest Barbara Pym book released so far.

Is there a new Barbara Pym book coming?

No next Barbara Pym book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Award nominations for Barbara Pym

Wikidata records 1 nomination for Barbara Pym. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Barbara Pym at a glance

Died
Barbara Pym died in 1980, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Barbara Pym are still being published after Barbara Pym's death in 1980; the newest appeared in 1988.
Release pace
Barbara Pym books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
2,158 pages across the 8 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 251 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Barbara Pym books, 6 of 14, were published in the 1980s.

What the Barbara Pym books are about

13 of the 14 Barbara Pym books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: clergy is tagged on 4 of 13. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.