Rhubarb and Pym (Barbara)
Barbara Pym mentions rhubarb in at least two of her novels. I shall make a study of this and inform you, gentle reader, should I find more. First! Catherine Oliphant, our heroine in Less than Angels, carries rhubarb in her arms, much as a goddess of the harvest would. She is helping, as always, Alacic Lydgate: this time, in his garden.
Wilmet, the lightly anti-heroine-ic character in A Glass of Blessings, notes a dinner conversation. Her husband's bland and proper colleague James discusses the merits of their dessert wine. He mentions an obscure sweet wine -- a Samoa -- saying this:
"...the kind of thing that seems otherwise to have no raison d'etre -- to be drunk with gooseberries or rhubarb!"
ME AGAIN! Rodney Forsyth, the sturdy Mr. Wilmet, notes that both his wife and mother like gooseberries and such astringent treats. He must defend them against the moral lapse of liking tarty foods. But Sybil, Rodney's mother can defend herself quite well, thank you. She parries back as BARBARA, AGAIN, WRITES:
"Perhaps they are more of a woman's fruit," said Sybil, "like rhubarb. Women are prepared to take trouble with sour and difficult things, whereas men would hardly think it worth while."
Convinced to read a Barbara Pym book? 'Rhubarb' alone, would invite me into these books. Listen to Kerry Clare's video plug for Barbara Pym. Kerry, who blogs at Pickle Me This, compares Pym to Muriel Spark! (I want to be a mash-up of Muriel Spark and Barbara Pym in my next life).
MinxterBloom
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