Some Tame Gazelle

Some Tame Gazelle

Barbara Pym

This is a gentle comedy of manners which takes place in an English village sometime during the first half of the Twentieth Century. It features two spinster sisters, curates, a rather sour, dour archeacon, a bishop, tea, cakes, church bazaars, knitting, and many more of the trappings you'd expect in to find in a gentle comedy of manners.

This book has been compared to Jane Austen's work. I can see that on the surface, but in the end, I don't think it really lives up to that billing. To be fair, can anything really live up to an original?

I enjoyed this, and am glad I read it. There were many passages that made me smile. I wouldn't say, though, that I was terribly impressed.