This was the book that was rejected by Pym's publisher and caused the hiatus in her publishing career. It may have been old-fashioned in the early 60s, but it just feels like a period piece now and not out of place amongst the rest of her novels that I've read so far (Excellent Women, Less Than Angels, and Crampton Hodnet). The title is nicely ambiguous: there are a number of unsuitable attachments in the novel: be that the vicar (Mark) and his wife (Sophia); Sophia and her cat, Faustina; Rupert and Ianthe; Rupert and Penelope; Mervyn and Ianthe; Basil Branche and Ianthe; or Ianthe and Paul. Once more, Pym draws an attractive main female character, Ianthe, who has good taste and nice things. Once more, Pym recycles characters from previous novels, including Mildred and Everard Bone from Excellent Women (although, sadly, Mildred was ill on the day of the dinner party and couldn't attend); and Esther Clovis and other anthropologists from Less Than Angels. I love how she does this. They sometimes feel like the non-speaking characters in The Archers (in a good way): one feels they have full and rounded lives, just lived beyond the margins. There's also an interesting E. M. Forster-style parish holiday to Rome. Pym is brilliant at describing the characters' dashed hopes of a quiet moment with their beloved. Again I raced through this in about a week. I know of no other writer who can extract so much drama from a Christmas bazaar, a garden party, or a dinner party. I love me some Pym. Next up: the novel that ended her hiatus and earned her a Booker Prize nomination: Quartet in Autumn.
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