Alana Estelle

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. 

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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My February reading list is pretty ambitious, with two of the texts spilling over from last month because I too, was overly ambitious in January. 

The Brothers Karamazov - My main read for this month. I had to made this Russian classic a priority this year, after I literally kept dreaming about it for a straight week in December. Due to the size, I’ll be together 4-5 about The Brothers, because I want my review/thoughts to be thorough. These massive, complex works of literature deserve more space than IG’s mere 2,200 character limiter per caption. 

Lolita - My first buddy read of 2021! My friend Rebekah and I are already a few pages in and we are already greatly disturbed. This will be a great one to buddy read so we can suffer together. 

Love in a Cold Climate - Nancy Mitford is always such a treat to read; her sarcasm and wit provides an interesting and satirical view into the  lives of England’s aristocracy in the early to mid 1900s. Love in a Cold Climate was on my January list and I did manage to start it at the end of the month. 

Hamlet - I read Hamlet ages ago and actually remember nothing. This was another one on my January list that didn’t happen. 

Hamnet - It’s pretty clear that I strategically placed this book on this month’s TBR because of Hamlet. I’ll read Hamnet after Hamlet. 

What’s on your February reading list? 

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