I realise now that I should probably have read The Pursuit of Love first, which was mentioned to me just before I started, but as I already had Love in a Cold Climate out of the library I charged ahead anyway. I don't think it will matter too much in the end, as I absolutely loved this novel.
The tale is narrated by Fanny Wincham, newly wed to an Oxford don, who has had an upper class upbringing. Fanny seems to be a little more open-minded than her peers, perhaps due to the somewhat eccentric relatives by whom she has been raised. Fanny tells all regarding her relations with the Montdore family and their various hangers-on. I loved Fanny's observations and attitude to living, and think I could have been great friends with her if she were a real person. It seems to me that if a book can generate that depth of feeling, it is quite an accolade for the author.
Each of the characters is beautifully drawn. The novel is full of humour. I especially loved Uncle Matthew's quirks and Jassy and Victoria's gushing dialogues. I adored the language and style of writing. The story is fairly fast paced and I found it difficult to drag myself away from it. Some of the reflections on the social mores of the time were interesting (chiefly being the position of women in society and the ongoing differences between the social classes even as WWII approached). Having said that I understand the novel to have been set in the late 1930s, and I did find it strange that there was no mention at all of the approaching conflict with Germany (in fact at one point one of the characters expresses a preference for Germany over France) nor of the sense of impending doom that must surely have been hanging over England at that time. I find it hard to believe that the upper classes were totally buffered from that. I understand that at least one of Mitford's sisters was considered to be a friend of Hitler during the 1930s, but as the novel was published in 1949, it seems odd that it could not have been addressed more directly.
But overall, I just loved it for the story. I'll be reading The Pursuit of Love and probably Don't Tell Alfred, as I would like to know more about how Fanny's life turns out. And even though many of the characters could only be described as shallow narcissistic snobs, I can't help but wish that by some lucky accident I had been born an aristocrat myself.
The tale is narrated by Fanny Wincham, newly wed to an Oxford don, who has had an upper class upbringing. Fanny seems to be a little more open-minded than her peers, perhaps due to the somewhat eccentric relatives by whom she has been raised. Fanny tells all regarding her relations with the Montdore family and their various hangers-on. I loved Fanny's observations and attitude to living, and think I could have been great friends with her if she were a real person. It seems to me that if a book can generate that depth of feeling, it is quite an accolade for the author.
Each of the characters is beautifully drawn. The novel is full of humour. I especially loved Uncle Matthew's quirks and Jassy and Victoria's gushing dialogues. I adored the language and style of writing. The story is fairly fast paced and I found it difficult to drag myself away from it. Some of the reflections on the social mores of the time were interesting (chiefly being the position of women in society and the ongoing differences between the social classes even as WWII approached). Having said that I understand the novel to have been set in the late 1930s, and I did find it strange that there was no mention at all of the approaching conflict with Germany (in fact at one point one of the characters expresses a preference for Germany over France) nor of the sense of impending doom that must surely have been hanging over England at that time. I find it hard to believe that the upper classes were totally buffered from that. I understand that at least one of Mitford's sisters was considered to be a friend of Hitler during the 1930s, but as the novel was published in 1949, it seems odd that it could not have been addressed more directly.
But overall, I just loved it for the story. I'll be reading The Pursuit of Love and probably Don't Tell Alfred, as I would like to know more about how Fanny's life turns out. And even though many of the characters could only be described as shallow narcissistic snobs, I can't help but wish that by some lucky accident I had been born an aristocrat myself.
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