Quartet in Autumn

Quartet in Autumn
Author(s)	Barbara Pym
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Macmillan
Publication date	1 September 1977
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	224 pp (hardback edition) & 192 pp (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-333-22778-6 (hardback edition) & ISBN 0-330-32648-1 (paperback edition)
OCLC Number	3555681
Dewey Decimal	823/.9/14
LC Classification	PZ4.P9965 Qar PR6066.Y58

Quartet in Autumn is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1977 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was Pym's comeback novel after fifteen years of publishing rejections, following a successful record as a novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s. As a novel, it represents a departure from her earlier excursions into light comedy, being the story of four office workers on the verge of retirement.

Plot summary

Marcia, Letty, Norman and Edwin all work together in the same office, are all unmarried (Edwin being a widower) and have all reached retirement age. Letty, the "heroine" of the book, has plans to share a country retreat with her old friend, Marjorie, but her hopes are dashed when Marjorie suddenly announces that she is to marry a clergyman some years younger than herself.

All four find retirement difficult to cope with, but the effects are most noticeable for the eccentric Marcia. She gradually withdraws from the outside world, gives up eating, and eventually dies in pathetic circumstances. She has unexpectedly left her estate to Norman, in whom she had indulged a brief and secret romantic interest. When Marjorie's fiancé deserts her for a younger widow, Letty has the opportunity to take the country cottage after all. By now she has come to terms with retirement and does not move. At the end of the book, she is considering whether to introduce Edwin and Norman to Marjorie in the hope of matchmaking.

Awards and nominations

The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.