PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Paula Byrne was born in Birkenhead and has a PhD from the University of Liverpool, where she is a Research Fellow in English Literature. Her first book, Jane Austen and the Theatre, was shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize. Her second book, Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson , the tale of the scandalous star of the 18th-century stage, literature and high-society, was a Richard and Judy bookclub pick. Her most recent book is Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. The story of Evelyn Waugh's friendship with the extraordinary aristocratic family who inspired Brideshead Revisited, it was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. A regular contributor to the 'Times Literary Supplement', she lives in Warwickshire with her two young children and her husband, the critic and biographer Jonathan Bate.
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE ADVENTURES OF MISS BARBARA PYM 'Paula Byrne has not only succeeded in writing the definitive work on Barbara Pym, she has also - with astonishing skill - pieced together a beautifully nuanced mosaic. Each shimmering piece in this marvellous construct reflects an intricate moment in the life of Pym - the writer who, Byrne argues convincingly, is the 20th century's answer to Jane Austen. This is biography at its brilliant best' Charles Spencer, author of The White Ship PRAISE FOR PAULA BYRNE'S THE REAL JANE AUSTEN 'A delightful and engrossing portrait' Sunday Times 'A perceptive and energetic guide to Austen and her surroundings ... Byrne's critical study consists of a series of beautifully written, interrelated essays ... [her] style gives fresh charms to her subject matter ... Bold, fast-moving and accessible' Daily Telegraph 'Brilliantly illuminating ... riveting. By focusing, chapter by chapter, on one thread or another of Austen's experience, Byrne allows us to grasp the richness of her inner life' Simon Callow, Guardian
