INTRODUCED BY ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH''I''m a huge fan of Barbara Pym'' RICHARD OSMANMildred Lathbury is one of those excellent women who are often taken for granted. She is a godsend, ''capable of dealing with most of the stock situations or even the great moments of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sale, the garden fête spoilt by bad weather''. Her glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, seem to be facing a marital crisis. One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially as Mildred has a soft spot for dashing young Rockingham Napier. This is Barbara Pym''s world at its funniest and most touching.''One of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century'' ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH''Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life'' ANNE TYLER''Not only was Pym a comic genius but she was ever so wise'' THE TIMES