The Appeal of the Handsome Beast: Barbara Pym and Her Friends: 'Less Than Angels'

Loving the wrong men is an occupational hazard for the human race and Barbara Pym thoroughly understood the appeal of the handsome beast. She wrote beautifully about the pleasure and pain involved, initially inspired by her experience as an Oxford student during the 1930s. We will explore how Pym’s experience is reflected in her fiction – particularly in her novel 'Less Than Angels' -- at our 31st Annual Conference: The Appeal of the Handsome Beast: Barbara Pym and Her Friends/Less Than Angels. Keynote speaker: Sir Alexander McCall Smith, Honorary Life Member of the Barbara Pym Society.