The Penguin Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford By Nancy Mitford
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I have read some of these novels before: The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. They are based on a real-life British family. I also watched the PBS mini-series many years ago. It is easy to feel like you are a part of this family and that is why I read them again. There were several children with a cantankerous father who would send a couple of children out and hunt them like a fox hunt. He was more or less oblivious to the social life a person of his status was supposed to lead but that led to his children being different than other. They were very close and a cousin lived with them most of the time and she is the one telling the story. Her mother dropped her off with other relatives as she pursued a cosmopolitan life on the continent. There are good times and then the realities of adulthood. EAch of the two novels were made into a mini-series twice. Here is a link to one. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180369/ English Perfect for me but i know it's not for everyone
A tad oudated... Just a tad English Including Highland Fling, Christmas Pudding, Pigeon Pie, Whiggs on the Green, The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate, and Don't tell Arthur. Wonderful insight into a world gone by but I, even it it hadn't, I would otherwise get a glimpse into it. Love Nancy's light touch. English It took me a long time (for me) to read this because of personal circumstances. There are eight novels within this one book, pre-war and post war. I am not sure if the first four have relevance today - the humour seems outdated and the romance silly. However, Nancy Mitford's most famous novels, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate are very charming, and I enjoyed re-reading them. The Blessing was almost there, but I found Don't Tell Alfred very boring in parts, and rather struggled through it. English
I've loved 'Love in a Cold Climate' and 'The Pursuit of Love' since I read them as a child.
Re-reading them again, casual racism and a callous disregard for almost everyone were what struck me most. English Reread The Pursuit of Love for probably the third time. The best parts are when the girls are at Alconleigh and especially when they’re altogether again near the end. (Love the Bolter! I remember after I first read this years ago, I got a book about Idina Sackville whom was almost certainly the person the character was based upon: The Bolter by Frances Osborne.)
6/9/22
Highland Fling
Nancy’s first novel. It is thought by some to be an attempt to writte in the style of PG Wodehouse. I can see why. She had definitely found her own style by The Pursuit of Love. This is dull, I’m not particularly enjoying it, so will stop at 13 chapters, or so , for now. Perhaps I’ll finish it another time?
22/9/22 English Highland Fling (1931)
Read from 20/07/2012 to 27/07/2012 - 3 stars
Read from 23/11/2019 to 14/12/2019 - 2 stars
As the name implies, this is a romantic comedy of sorts. Sally and Walter Monteath, poor rich people, go to Sally's aunt's castle instead of to Italy to serve as hosts for the hunting season and save some money in the process, since Walter is hopelessly careless with money. Because they'd be bored to death constantly surrounded by people from an older generation, they invite a couple of friends, Albert, an artist who's been living in Paris for the last four years, and Jane, a young and pretty socialite. Obviously the younger generation clashes with the older one, and Mitford has a very keen eye and sharp prose to dissect these interactions. She makes fun of everyone and the Scottish, and when the younger generation talks about pacifism and war, Mitford is really poignant. And also pretty obviously, Jane and Albert fall in love, but this is only important insofar as it makes the plot advance. The real substance is in Mitford's characterisation and opinions on art, society, money, war, etc. But every character is a bit tiresome and ultimately the whole thing is very forgettable and inconsequential. Not bad, but far from essential.
Christmas Pudding (1932)
Read from ? to 18/01/2014 - 3.5 stars
Read from 22/02/2020 to 16/03/2020 - 2 stars
I guess this is another romantic comedy, in a way, except in this one it's difficult to care about the hero at all, since we follow the anti-hero for most of the novel. Paul Fotheringay has just written a bestselling tragic novel that has been lauded by everyone as the most funny novel ever written. In despair, he sets out to write the biography of the Victorian poet Lady Maria Bobbin, for which he needs access to her diaries. When the current Lady of Compton Bobbin denies him that access, he disguises himself as Paul Fisher, a tutor to her son Bobby Bobbin. Once there, he falls in love with Bobby's sister, Philadelphia. But another man happens to want to marry her too, and he is a Marquis. The story is unexpected, realistic and mercenary, as are the characters in it. It starts really strongly, especially with the characterization of Paul Fotheringay as a misunderstood author, which sounded like it could have been an exaggeration of Mitford herself. The talent of Mitford is undeniable - she is wry, sarcastic and has the keenest eye when it comes to her social milieu. This time around she makes fun of country nobility, of hunting and Christmas traditions, and she does it amazingly well. But once more, the whole story is rather inconsequential unless you happen to be extremely invested in the vapid lives of the upper class during the 1920s and 1930s. I'd have to agree with Mitford herself when she makes Amabelle and Bobby say [Michael] behaves like a very unconvincing character in a book, not like a human being at all. [...] never really coming to life at all; but there are some fine descriptive passages of Berkshire scenery. I really admire Mitford's flare with prose and her meta awareness, but ultimately this was not a particularly good read either.
Wigs on the Green (1935)
Read from 23/07/2014 to 31/07/2014 - ??
Read from 01/02/2022 to 27/02/2022 - 1.5 stars
This is probably the more uneven Mitford novel of all. Written as a way to poke fun at her sisters Unity and Diana, it just comes across as a curious mixture of dull and embarrassingly foolish. The only reason this novel has any relevance at all is because is tied to the Mitford's family history, but it has been the most interesting to read so far. It is also what made me abandon this book the first time I tried reading through it. The story opens with a pair of cads in search of rich wives who decide to go to a Cotswold village to pursue a couple of rich heiresses. One of them is a Nazi, so both join the movement to ingratiate with her. This could have actually been funny and satirical, but nothing much is made of it. The Nazis (or Union Jackshirts, as they are called in the book) are presented as something childish and innocent, a bit ridiculous, kind of like a group of man-children Boy Scouts suitable for the upper class. It is so out of touch with reality that it is boggling, considering that Nancy Mitford actually had interacted with them in real life. I don't doubt that's what the Blackshirts came across as to the Bright Young Things (we've sadly seen this again in recent history!) but I'm surprised Nancy could not see the actual damaging ideology behind them despite her keen eye. It was really disappointing and uncomfortable to read, especially when the opponents are made to look even more ridiculous and the option presented as sensible is a bunch of rich Tories. Once again, I did not care about the romantic comedy at all, everything felt extremely mercenary and devoid of charm. The only salvageable chapter is the one about Peersmont, the asylum for rich Peers as a satire of British Parliament. Not a very good novel, but it is interesting to have read it.
Pigeon Pie (1940)
The Pursuit of Love (1945)
Love in a Cold Climate (1949)
The Blessing (1951)
Don't Tell Alfred (1960) English Nancy Mitford wrote eight novels in all; often split into her ‘pre war’ and ‘post war’ novels. This collection contains them all: Highland Fling (1931), Christmas Pudding (1932), Wigs On the Green (1935), Pigeon Pie (1940), The Pursuit of Love (1945), Love in a Cold Climate (1949), The Blessing (1951) and Don’t Tell Afred (1960). The pre and post war novels are very different and, also, both the first two novels and the final four, although stand alone books, share characters. So it is nice to read them all in the order they were written in.
The first two novels, “Highland Fling” and “Christmas Pudding” are light hearted romantic comedies.
The first involves a house party and a generation clash between the older members and the ‘Bright Young Things’. Christmas Pudding sees author Paul Fotheringay staying, undercover, at the house of Lady Bobbin to write an unauthorised biography of one of her ancestors. The third pre-war novel is “Wigs on the Green”, a satirical look of the rise of fascism in 1930’s Europe. Of course, Nancy Mitford was well placed to cast her sharp eye on events – her sister Diana was married to Oswald Mosley and her sister Unity, infamously, flirted with fascism. This book was much edited, but still caused a huge family rift and, wisely, Mitford left it out of print after the war – where it remained for over seventy five years. It is interesting to read, but her least successful novel in my opinion. Pigeon Pie, written during the early months of WWII, sees her back on more assured ground with a comedy, in which Lady Sophia Garfield uncovers a nest of German spies.
Doubtless, the war changed Mitford. For one thing, she fell desperately in love. Her masterpiece, The Pursuit of Love was published in 1945 and dedicated to her lover, Gaston Palewski (read The Horror of Love if you are interested in discovering more). This novel introduces Fanny, who features in three of her last novels and is linked to characters in all four of her post war books. The Pursuit of Love follows Fanny’s cousin Linda and her love affairs – including that of French aristocrat Fabrice Sauveterre. Both this and the following Love in a Cold Climate are more mature, slightly darker and wonderfully written. Love in a Cold Climate again features Fanny narrating – this time the central character is Polly Hampton, as heiress who makes an unsuitable marriage.
The Blessing is more of a stand alone, although characters are linked to the previous two books. We read of Grace, daughter of Sir Conrad Allingham, and her marriage to Charles-Edouard de Valhubert (a relative of Fabrice Sauveterre). Son Sigi is ‘the Blessing’ of the title, who uses his parents marital difficulties to his own advantage. In the last novel, Don’t Tell Alfred, Fanny takes centre stage, when husband Alfred becomes Ambassador to Paris. This novel deals with the generation gap again, as Fanny’s sons cause all kinds of problems for her, with strange Teddy Boy clothes and bizarre tastes in philosophy and music.
These books really are a delight. Although they are funny and charming and written with great humour, they are never sentimental. Mitford has a wicked, often cruel, sense of humour and a sharp and satirical eye. She wrote of the world she knew, in all its absurdity and was not afraid to lampoon herself, friends and family. Nobody should be a reader and not know Uncle Matt, the Bolter and hypochondriac Davey. If you are coming to these novels for the first time I envy you – utterly enjoyable and completely unforgettable.
English I was hoping that I was going to enjoy Nancy Mitford, but sadly that wasn’t the case. This book contains 8 stories – some short, some long, most less well known and two that are very well known. My biggest complaint is with the fact that each story ends very abruptly, the story is trotting along and then suddenly, WHAM! End of novel. Most of the characters are childish caricatures of people and are just plain irritating. The language is of the time, so beware to be deeply offended by the racism and the attitudes and descriptions of women and how they behave. Another peeve is the amount of dialogue written in French with no English translation at all, I was left floundering as to what the conversation was, and this made them even harder to get in to.
I’ve given a brief review of each story below.
Highland Fling – 2/5 (being extremely generous)
I really couldn’t get into the story as I just didn’t care about the characters – they come off as silly, ridiculous people who made me roll my eyes so many times I was almost dizzy. This childish behaviour seemed to be a benchmark for all the young people in the novel as other secondary characters act in a similar manner – one group of friends hire a hearse and drive it through the streets as if attending a funeral before arriving at the open grave in the cemetery where the ‘body’ suddenly leaps from the coffin, and they run away leaving everyone standing at the graveside…I mean really????
Christmas Pudding – 2/5 (Totally pointless story)
The events seem farcical at best and downright ridiculous the rest of the time.
Wigs On The Green – 3/5 (Improvement on the last two novels.)
This was an easier story to get into and lot more interesting than the others but, again it’s a character thing as they are so childish and silly I can’t like any of them.
Pidgeon Pie – 1/5 (the worst of the bunch.)
There are so many things wrong with this that I can’t even begin to explain. The plot is plainly ludicrous – I don’t need to comment further.
The Pursuit Of Love – 3.5/5 (The best of the bunch.)
The story telling in this book is a lot better than the others, though the characteristic style is still there – silly scenes, daft dialogue and a very abrupt ending. The difference here is that you care about the characters. Fanny is a great narrator, telling everyone else’s story without shining too much light on herself. I have to say, I did really like this one.
Love In A Cold Climate – 2/5 (same narrator as The Pursuit Of Love but just didn’t cut it this time.)
Again, the abrupt ending had me annoyed. The death of people and children is treated almost with contempt and the characters are irritating and one dimensional.
The Blessing – 2/5 (Pointless)
Where to begin? Again the story lacks credibility – yes I know, stories are made up but I like my events to be at least plausible. My twenty first century sensibilities are appalled by the notion that a woman should stay with her philandering husband because he is ‘suffering embarrassment at being caught out’ and the notion that she should put up with it because he is a man and that is what they do. No, just no. Sigi is just plain obnoxious and spoilt in the extreme. Nanny is infuriating with her constant moaning that nothing is right – she hates France when there but thinks it’s wonderful when she returns to the rationing of England.
Don’t Tell Alfred – 2/5 (Not quite sure what the point of this one was).
To summarise this one - Alfred becomes Ambassador to France, moves there with his wife leaving children in school. Kids rebel and (briefly) go off the rails. Wife resolves to keep it a secret from Albert. Yep - pointless.
English
The Penguin Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford, with an introduction by India Knight. In print together for the first time in many years, and here in one volume, are all eight of Nancy Mitford's sparklingly astute, hilarious and completely unputdownable novels, with a new introduction by India Knight. Published over a period of 30 years, they provide a wonderful glimpse of the bright young things of the thirties, forties, fifties and sixties in the city and in the shires; firmly ensconced at home or making a go of it abroad; and what the upper classes really got up to in peace and in war. 'Entirely original, inimitable and irresistible' Spectator 'Deliciously funny' Evelyn Waugh 'Utter, utter bliss' Daily Mail Nancy Mitford (1904-1973) was born in London, the eldest child of the second Baron Redesdale. Her childhood in a large remote country house with her five sisters and one brother is recounted in the early chapters of The Pursuit of Love (1945), which according to the author, is largely autobiographical. Apart from being taught to ride and speak French, Nancy Mitford always claimed she never received a proper education. She started writing before her marriage in 1932 in order 'to relieve the boredom of the intervals between the recreations established by the social conventions of her world' and had written four novels, including Wigs on the Green (1935), before the success of The Pursuit of Love in 1945. After the war she moved to Paris where she lived for the rest of her life. She followed The Pursuit of Love with Love in a Cold Climate (1949), The Blessing (1951) and Don't Tell Alfred (1960). She also wrote four works of biography: Madame de Pompadour, first published to great acclaim in 1954, Voltaire in Love, The Sun King and Frederick the Great. As well as being a novelist and a biographer she also translated Madame de Lafayette's classic novel, La Princesse de Clèves, into English, and edited Noblesse Oblige, a collection of essays concerned with the behaviour of the English aristocracy and the idea of 'U' and 'non-U'. Nancy Mitford was awarded the CBE in 1972. The Penguin Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford
