A Glass of Blessings

 A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym

Wilmet Forsythe is an attractive, still fairly young woman, married, and well provided for by a satisfactory husband. She has everything she needs and wants, but finds the good life just a little dull. When her best friend Rowena's husband, Henry, begins to pay her special attention, she accepts it as harmless flirtation. But when Rowena's brother, Piers, also shows an interest in spending time with Wilmet, she develops a fondness for him that suggests something more.  She enjoys their attentions; they make her feel good and that seems to be the important thing to our charming, if slightly entitled, heroine. She does, thankfully, come to appreciate just how good she's got it before any real damage is done.

Looking for something to occupy her time, she becomes involved in the life of the local church, its members and its three priests. There are lunches, teas, dinners, and church events to attend and various problematic situations to be discussed and resolved.  Her tendency to dismiss those who are "unsuitable" becomes a bit tedious, but most of the time she means well.  

This book isn't the absolute treasure that Excellent Woman was, with it's more likeable and interesting  main character, Mildred Lathbury - but, oh, the writing! Pym's prose is delicious; I found myself stopping often to re-read the concise, graceful phrasing. That alone will keep me coming back to her books whether the characters are sometimes tedious or not. They are simply too good to miss.