Quartett im Herbst

They work in the same office and are about to retire: Marcia, Letty, Norman and Edwin. All four live alone, yet they have little contact outside the office - even though they share coffee and tea water every day. They observe, resent, advise each other, and try to play over their loneliness. Letty, who lives in a sublet, loves to read and values her clothes, has been overshadowed for decades by her friend, to whom she planned to move to the country in her old age. Suddenly, however, all plans are upended. The only event in Marcia's life, a cancer operation, makes her fall for her doctor, Mr Strong. She devotes her free time obsessively to organizing her milk bottles and canned goods. Edwin is a widower and spends most of his time looking for a devotional, communion or church service. His perpetually nagging colleague Norman prefers to visit a sick relative, but he dislikes him as much as the rest of humanity. When Marcia and Letty retire, the four go their separate ways - but life always brings the small community back together. Ironic, blackly humorous, yet with quiet optimism, Barbara Pym shows her storytelling skills at their most sparkling in 'Quartet in Autumn'.