A Glass of Blessings

A Glass of Blessings

Author	Barbara Pym
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	J. Cape
Publication date	1958
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	255 pp
ISBN	NA

A Glass of Blessings is a novel by Barbara Pym, first published in 1958. The title is taken from the poem The Pulley by George Herbert.

Plot summary

The central character and narrator, Wilmet Forsyth, is a married woman with a comfortable though routine life. She does not need to work and enjoys a life of leisure. When not lunching or shopping she occupies her time, somewhat guiltily, with occasional "good works", particularly at the instigation of her slightly eccentric do-gooder mother-in-law. She becomes drawn into the social life of her church, St. Luke's. After a church service one day she renews her acquaintance with a close friend's attractive but ne'er-do-well brother, Piers Longridge. She develops a romantic interest in Piers, and begins to believe that he is her secret admirer. The admirer is in fact her close friend's husband. Wilmet fails to realise that Piers is gay until she becomes aware of his relationship with Keith, a lower class young man.

The subject of homosexuality is not infrequent in Pym's work, but it is usually referenced in very oblique and subtle ways. This novel is surprisingly frank about the subject, especially for a comedy of manners published in 1958. That is not to say that sexuality is mentioned directly, but the reader can reach no conclusion other than that Piers and Keith live together in a romantic relationship. Her remarkable portrait of Keith, though it takes up just a few pages, reveals a multi-faceted archetypal character who is instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with contemporary gay life.

Further reading

• Orna Raz - Social Dimensions in the Novels of Barbara Pym, 1949-1962: the Writer as Hidden Observer (2007)