Part of the glut of scholarly overviews of Pym's work which emerged in the 1980s, the decade after her death, Rossen's volume is an engaging examination of several of the author's key themes. Detailed chapters look at Pym's spinsters, her wide-ranging use of religious and anthropological characters and themes, the role of Oxford in her novels, and the way that Pym applied her own observational skills to the minds of her more perspicacious heroines.

Whereas some of the other books published in this era were straightforward "biographical criticism", that is examining each book in chronological order with a heavy emphasis on plot, Rossen digs further into a few key volumes, notably Some Tame Gazelle, Excellent Women and A Few Green Leaves to maker her points strongly. Perhaps this will be less appealing to those who haven't already read all of Pym's novels, but on the other hand it may be more interesting to those of us who want to understand the how of her writing rather than just the why. ( )