Nancy Mitford – The Pursuit of Love

I’ve always been fascinated by the Mitford family. Siblings of such extreme and different characters it’s hard to imagine they had the same parents. This book is a fictional portrait of the family and gives an insight into both the post 1st World War period and upper class family life at this time. Life doesn’t exist in shades of grey and the father figure, Uncle Matthew, comes from a generation of “haves” that did exactly what they wanted to. It’s very funny as well as uncovering the brittle society that the characters inhabit. Love is something that exists in dreams but not in real life. Self-analysis of oneself and others just doesn’t exist and the consequences are dire. The author makes us feel sad when her characters reap the consequences of their actions, but not for too long. In the Mitford world life must go on and you must seek out the positives

Of its time but a beautifully written book that shouldn’t be dismissed.

Reviewed by Chris