Social Dimensions in the Novels of Barbara Pym, 1949-1963 The Writer as Hidden Observer

This study considers the six novels written by English novelist, Barbara Pym (1913-1980), between 1949 and 1963, which demonstrate the response of a specific class of people, represented by her heroines, to the dramatic social, cultural and demographic changes that took place in Britain at the time. Treating Pym's 1950s novels as social-historical sources, this work attempts to analyze the way in which her portrayals of society, like those of so many other English writers, served both as a testimonies and critiques of the times in which she lived. The focal point of Pym's novels was the intera.