Through the Window

I am slowly buying favorite books I gave away when I moved in 2019--replacing some staples.

Yesterday I ordered Barbara Pym's Excellent Women.

I've read this novel a dozen times in the past thirty years--why did I think I didn't need to keep my copy?
But I was glad to find a newer Penguin Classic with this perfect illustration of restraint and longing on the cover.
I can't see who painted it--will have to wait for the book to arrive.

I thought of Winifred Nicholson, who painted a lot of plants on windowsills--I love them. Her work feels Pymish, but the cover painting of the orange tree is crisper and the setting is, unlike what I've seen of Nicholson's, urban.
(Gosh, I only learned of WN in 2013.)

Winifred Nicholson, "Daffodils and Pewter Jug" (1953--the year after Excellent Women was published)

 Here's a scene out my window.
"Squash the Squirrel & Excellent Girlettes, Squirrel Sighting!"