Book Review: Love in a Cold Climate by, Nancy Mitford

 

“…how differently life turns out from what we expect!”

Nancy Mitford is always a treat to read; her characters are funny, witty, and engaging and her writing is quite precise, yet cryptic in some instances. Mitford has a way of implying events, forcing the reader to think; she does not spoon-feed and that is something I always appreciate. I enjoy an author who trusts the intelligence of the reader. 

Love in a Cold Climate (LIACC) is narrated by Fanny, who shares the goings-on of her family, friends and acquaintances. The reader is immersed in the lives of the English aristocracy and it’s so entertaining. Most of these characters are so clueless and privileged, that for me, that’s the charm. There is nothing “politically correct” about Mitford’s books and it’s always fun to go back to novels like these written between WWI and WWII and observe lives that are completely unrelatable to most people.  Mitford is poking fun at her own social class. I

LIACC really doesn’t have much of a plot, though Fanny does focus quite a bit on the scandalous marriage of Polly (the daughter of a Lord) to her uncle through marriage and former love interest of her overbearing and comically rude mother. The timeline moves fluidly and it’s more about the characters and their antics. Fanny doesn’t even focus much on her self, though the reader is aware about what is going on in her life to some extent. 

I really enjoyed Uncle Davey, who’s obsessed with his health and believes the weirdest things. 

“I thought what a pity it was that Davey could not be here for one of his proper overeating days. He always complained that Aunt Emily never really provided him with enough different dishes on these occasions to give his metabolism a proper shock.”

There’s also Jassy and Victoria, Fanny’s hysterical younger cousins, who are obsessed with learning about sex and try to pry information from their married cousins. 

“It is unfair - I suppose Fanny’s going to tell Polly now. Well, back to the medical dictionary and the Bible. I only wish these things didn’t look quite so sordid in cold print. What we need is some clean-minded married woman, to explain, but where are we to find her?”

Isn’t that brilliant and delightful? LIACC was the perfect read for me to choose when I needed a palette cleanser from the heavier, though enjoyable, The Brothers Karamazov and the cringey Lolita. Even thought I laughed my way through the whole novel, Mitford sprinkles in bits of wisdom. 

“…the situation seemed dreadful to those … who believe all they see in print without recourse to past experience.” 

How relevant for today, when we live in a world in which most people believe everything presented to them by main stream news outlets and social media, without taking a minute to step aside, do their own research and then draw a conclusion. I’ve worked with the media on several occasions and it’s interesting to see how things work behind the scenes. 

This is my second Nancy Mitford novel; I read The Pursuit of Love last year and also thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to reading her remaining 6 novels. If you haven’t read Mitford yet and you’d like to, I’d recommend reading the Pursuit of Love first, in order to get introduced to many of the character that appear in LIACC. My reading choices so far this year have been winners - Rating: 4/5. 

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