Civil to Strangers

A novel and other fiction by the acclaimed Man Booker prize–nominated author known for her witty portrayals of English village life.

Thanks to his wife's money, Adam Marsh-Gibbon leads a charmed life writing poetry and novels celebrated mostly by his fellow residents in the town of Up Callow in Shropshire, England. His lovely wife Cassandra caters to his every whim, although perhaps not as enthusiastically as five years earlier, when she first married her handsome yet difficult husband. Into their lives steps Mr. Stefan Tilos, the new tenant of Holmwood, a dashing Hungarian who puts the whole town in a flutter. How alarming then, that he should become so visibly enamored of Cassandra. Mrs. Marsh-Gibbon is certainly above reproach. Or is she?

First completed in 1936, Civil to Strangers was published posthumously in 1987, thanks to Barbara Pym's friend and biographer Hazel Holt. This collection also includes previously unpublished stories and a radio interview. A must-have for fans of this revered and oft-underrated author.

"Fans will find much to enjoy in this book." —Publishers Weekly