“She had always been an unashamed reader of novels.”
Barbara Pym book Quartet in Autumn
Source: Quartet in Autumn

Quartet in Autumn is a novel by British novelist Barbara Pym, first published in 1977. It was highly praised and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the top literary prize in the UK. This was considered a comeback novel for Pym; she had fallen out of favour as styles changed, and her work had been rejected by publishers for 15 years. This followed her successful record as a novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s. As a novel, it represents a departure from her earlier style of light comedy, as it is the story of four office workers on the verge of retirement.
“She had always been an unashamed reader of novels.”
Barbara Pym book Quartet in Autumn
Source: Quartet in Autumn