Quartet in Autumn
Barbara Pym
 Marcia, Letty, Norman and Edwin all work together in the same office, are all unmarried (Edwin being a widower) and have all reached retirement age. Letty, the "heroine" of the book, has plans to share a country retreat with her old friend, Marjorie, but her hopes are dashed when Marjorie suddenly announces that she is to marry a clergyman some years younger than herself. All four find retirement difficult to cope with, but the effects are most noticeable for the eccentric Marcia. She gradually withdraws from the outside world, gives up eating, and eventually dies in pathetic circumstances. She has unexpectedly left her estate to Norman, in whom she had indulged a brief and secret romantic interest. When Marjorie's fiancé deserts her for a younger widow, Letty has the opportunity to take the country cottage after all. By now she has come to terms with retirement and does not move. At the end of the book, she is considering whether to introduce Edwin and Norman to Marjorie in the hope of matchmaking.