Editing Barbara Pym (section)

===Rediscovery and final years===
On 21 January 1977, the ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' ran an article in which high-profile writers and academics listed their most underrated and overrated books or authors of the previous 75 years (the lifetime of the publication). Pym was chosen as the most underrated writer by both Larkin and [[Lord David Cecil]], and was the only one to be selected by two contributors. On the strength of that article, literary interest in Pym was revived after 16 years.<ref name="Fowler"/><ref>Pym, ''Finding a Voice''</ref> Pym and Larkin had kept up a private correspondence for 17 years, but even his influence had previously been of no use in getting her a new publishing contract. Several publishing companies expressed an interest, including her former publisher Cape. Pym rejected them in favour of Macmillan, who agreed to publish ''Quartet in Autumn'' the same year.<ref>Pym 1984, p.294</ref> Before ''Quartet'' had been published, Macmillan also agreed to publish ''The Sweet Dove Died'', which she had reworked since completing it 10 years earlier. Cape reprinted her earlier novels, to which they still had the rights. The [[BBC]] interviewed Pym for a programme, ''Tea with Miss Pym'', which aired on 21 October 1977. Reviews of ''Quartet'' were almost uniformly positive, and the novel was nominated for the 1977 [[Booker Prize]]. Pym attended the ceremony, but the award went to [[Paul Scott (novelist)|Paul Scott]] for ''[[Staying On]]''.

The rediscovery also meant Pym was noticed in the United States for the first time. [[E. P. Dutton]] secured the rights to all of her existing novels, starting with ''Excellent Women'' and ''Quartet in Autumn'', and published her entire ''oeuvre'' between 1978 and 1987.<ref>Holt 1990, p.299</ref> The discovery of Pym's novels, combined with the narrative of her "comeback", made her a minor success in the USA during that period.<ref name="Fowler"/> Following her return to the public eye, she was elected as a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]].<ref name="Salwak1987">{{cite book|author=Dale Salwak|title=The Life and Work of Barbara Pym|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EiiwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|date=18 June 1987|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-349-08538-5|pages=39–}}</ref> Pym was interviewed for an episode of ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' on 1 August 1978, which was replayed on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] on 2 June 2013 – the centenary of her birth.<ref name=DowlenonPym>{{cite web|author1=Jerry Dowlen|title=The very best Christmas features... Jerry Dowlen celebrates the life and centenary of Barbara Pym...|url=http://www.booksmonthly.co.uk/jd.html|website=booksmonthly.co.uk|publisher=Paul Norman|access-date=5 April 2015|format=monthly literary column|date=December 2013|quote=Barbara Pym's appearance on 'Desert Island Discs' on 1 August 1978 was replayed on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 2 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224150904/http://www.booksmonthly.co.uk/jd.html|archive-date=24 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Pym's later novels have a more sombre, reflective tone than her earlier ones, which were in the [[high comedy]] tradition. By mid-1977, she had conceived an idea for her next novel, ''[[A Few Green Leaves]]'', which would turn out to be her last. In January 1979, a lump in Pym's abdomen was diagnosed as malignant, a return of the breast cancer she had had in 1971. She underwent [[chemotherapy]] while completing the draft of ''A Few Green Leaves''.<ref>Pym 1984, pages 322–323</ref> Aware she did not have long to live, she attempted to complete the novel before her death. She had already considered the plot of another novel, which would follow two women from different social backgrounds, starting with their youth and moving through to maturity, including sequences set in World War II,<ref name="Holt 1990, p.275">Holt 1990, p.275</ref> but she would never get to start work on it. By October 1979, Pym was confined to bed.<ref>Holt 1990, p.277</ref> Although not entirely satisfied with the final draft of ''A Few Green Leaves'', she submitted it to Macmillan, and it was published in 1980, shortly after her death.

On 11 January 1980, Barbara Pym died of breast cancer, aged 66. Following her death, her sister Hilary continued to champion her work, and was involved in setting up the Barbara Pym Society in 1993. Posthumously, ''Crampton Hodnet'', ''An Academic Question'' and ''An Unsuitable Attachment'' were published, in conjunction with Pym's literary executor, the novelist [[Hazel Holt]]. Holt and Hilary Pym also published a collection, ''[[Civil to Strangers|Civil to Strangers and Other Writings]]'', which was a collection of short stories and novellas mostly from Pym's early years. Holt and Hilary Pym published three additional volumes: ''[[A Very Private Eye]]'', an "autobiography" based on Pym's edited diaries and letters, ''[[A Lot To Ask: A Life of Barbara Pym]]'', a biography written by Holt, and ''[[À La Pym|A la Pym]]'', a cookbook comprising recipes for dishes featured in Pym's novels.

Hilary lived at Barn Cottage until her death in February 2004. The Pym sisters are buried in Finstock churchyard. In 2006, a [[blue plaque]] was placed on the cottage, marking it as a historic site.