Few aristocratic English families of the twentieth century enjoyed the glamorous notoriety of the infamous Mitford sisters. Nancy Mitford's most fa...
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Nov 02, 2011
Sienna
rated it: 
After a 2006 festival blurb spoiled a movie's singular plot twist (The Bothersome Man, whose protagonist unsettlingly resembles an older version of my husband), I've tried to avoid reading about films until after seeing them. This tactic also works well for books. I seem to be in the minority having read The Pursuit of Love knowing nothing about either Mitford or her high-profile family. Verdict? Pure pleasure.
It's ostensibly a light read, the mid-20th-century tale of an upper cr More...
It's ostensibly a light read, the mid-20th-century tale of an upper cr More...
May 21, 2011
Esther
rated it: 
I probably shouldn't have read this so soon after "Hons and Rebels" by Jessica Mitford, or after watching "Love In a Cold Climate" - seeing that I already knew what was going to happen to the characters, it gave me a weird echo-y feeling of things repeated, but not in quite the same way... After "Hons and Rebels", which is written as a straight-up autobiography, "The Pursuit of Love" struck me as a little off-kilter in the way it is narrated by Fanny, the
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May 01, 2011
Jessica
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Last time I was at the library, I picked up a couple of books by Evelyn Waugh, and then headed toward the 'M' section to see what was available from the Mitford sisters. I wanted to read some things from their catalogues both because of their association with Waugh and because people on the Chicklit message boards kept talking about them. The only Mitford book on the shelf was one by Nancy Mitford that contained two of her novels. I started with The Pursuit of Love because, well, it was printed
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Oct 16, 2010
Ensiform
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A roman a clef, this book begins by describing the odd upbringing of the author's prominent family, here called the Radletts. Six daughters grow up under the eccentric reign of their father (called "Uncle Matthew" by the narrator, cousin Fanny, who has come to live with them), who rages against foreigners and suitors, forms hatreds or admirations for others on a whim, and refuses to send his children to school. In the style of the time, the daughters go to balls and are presented as
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Oct 07, 2010
Laura
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This book was nothing like I thought it would be. I found it to be a funny book with quirky characters. The narrator is Fanny and the story is about her cousin Linda pursuing love. It begins when they are children and describes what life was like at the family home Alconleigh. Uncle Matthew who believes that hunting is the way of life; and even hunts for his children to give the hounds something to look for; Aunt Sadie who puts up with Uncle Matthew; the seven Radlett children - including Linda;
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Dec 12, 2009
Kristen
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I'm another who found this book oddly familiar because of how much I've read over the years about the Mitfords (not even the biographies; just the reviews of the biographies). I prefer books set in the last 200 years or so that were written as contemporary. Certainly a lot of things go undefined, and you can be brought up short by outdated comments on race etc, but the immersion still feels richer somehow. This is a light read about rather shallow, silly people but most are likable. It's as inte
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Aug 03, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
Abnd now for somethign completely differnt...
Classic, kooky, eccentric rich in England during the 20's and into the 30's (right up to WWI). The writing is fantastic, the story compelling, the insights and wit spot on. Read it for the descriptions of things like the child hunt, where the rich uncle hunts the kids as a stand in for foxes to practice his hounds. It is not so much the description of the hunt but her insight into how it was tolerated and eccentric because the More...
Classic, kooky, eccentric rich in England during the 20's and into the 30's (right up to WWI). The writing is fantastic, the story compelling, the insights and wit spot on. Read it for the descriptions of things like the child hunt, where the rich uncle hunts the kids as a stand in for foxes to practice his hounds. It is not so much the description of the hunt but her insight into how it was tolerated and eccentric because the More...
May 11, 2011
Dee
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 21, 2011
Ellie
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I really enjoyed this read. I was interested in reading it as I'd just read The Bolter: Edwardian Heartbreak and High Society Scandal in Kenya which, in the further reading section, referred to this novel commenting that Nancy Mitford had based one of her characters on Idina Sackville (the original Bolter).
Set in England and Paris this novel charts the life of Linda, an upper class woman living in the 1920s / 1930s. I've read that much of the early parts of the novel are based on the More...
Set in England and Paris this novel charts the life of Linda, an upper class woman living in the 1920s / 1930s. I've read that much of the early parts of the novel are based on the More...
Jul 25, 2011
Tatiana
rated it:
Foi engraçado, acima de tudo gostei da escrita irónica da autora e do facto de nos mostrar um lado, claro que o mais cómico, da aristocracia rural inglesa da primeira metade do século XX. Pensei várias vezes cm a vida daquelas pessoas era tão diferente da vida q penso q a minha avó e as minhas tias levavam na mesma altura, enquanto classe média lisboeta. De qq forma, nesses anos Portugal iniciou o seu afastamento cultural do resto da Europa, Salazar estava aqui para ficar e as pessoas viram-se p
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Jul 12, 2009
F.R.
rated it:
There is in this country a whole cottage industry existing just to write about the Mitford sisters, so I've read a lot about Nancy without actually reading anything by her. That made this very funny book even more interesting, as I was able to see the bits that were drawn from her own life.
We're in England between the wars, and much the same territory as Evelyn Waugh covered in Vile Bodies. Two women grow up in a sprawling country house, with an eccentric extended family which plays More...
We're in England between the wars, and much the same territory as Evelyn Waugh covered in Vile Bodies. Two women grow up in a sprawling country house, with an eccentric extended family which plays More...
Dec 09, 2008
Stella
rated it: 
This was a brilliant book! I especially loved the first half, when they were children, the picture nancy Mitford drew of their growing up at Alconleigh with Uncle Matthew's booming voice, always hollering, with Linda's romantic fantasies and crying depression (her suicide attempt after her dog died, I know it should be sad, but that was one part I roared with laughter, it sounded so melodramatic coming from a child of 6 years or so :-D), so that part was such a hilarious, sarcasticly funny in a
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Feb 10, 2012
Shelly
rated it:
It took a little time for me to realize that this was Linda's story, and not really Fanny's. By then I was hooked anyway and read on, waiting to see where it would lead. I'm used to mysteries - to trying to solve a puzzle - that reading something where that wasn't involved felt strange. But I enjoyed the story. Linda strikes me as an English Scarlett O'Hara - she's selfish, self-absorbed, and shallow - but unlike Scarlett, there is something likeable about her all the same. Perhaps it's jus
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Nov 25, 2010
Oana
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 01, 2011
Aubrey
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No book has ever made me laugh as hard as this one has. Nancy Mitford's humor is so witty and unexpected that I had to think twice about reading it in public because I knew I couldn't control myself once I started laughing. The plot is a bit patchy and the ending is beyond sudden, but it's all worth it just to experience her humor. Can't wait to read another of her books. The only reason I didn't dive right into another one is because I'm still relishing in what I just read. And as a tip, the de
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Aug 08, 2011
Frank
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Nice, entertaining, well-written and often witty. Also a little superficial and not very substantial. Nice portrait of upper class mentality. Judging from what one learns about her on Wikipedia, it's firmly rooted in her own family history, without being a straight representation of it. Mutations and variations ensure that no character simply *is* this or that person in real life. Fiction, then. But masquerading as memoirs, and with the subsequent lack of narrative drive. Not as biting in her hu
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Jun 15, 2008
Caroline
rated it:
A classic, must read. So well written, so much better quality than today's "chick lit" genre.. I want goldfish around my bathtub !!!
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Jul 21, 2011
Susanne
rated it:
Funny and entertaining, but made me wonder about the benefits and dangers of a lack of education - look at the random way the Mitford sisters turned out. Also, although the story of Linda's life seems rather dramatic, taken day by day it is almost unimaginable how BORING her life was regardless of her circumstances. She seems without inner resources and has no external purpose. No wonder Nancy Mitford turned to writing providing her with a creative outlet. This masquerades as a light read bu
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Sep 29, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
I picked-up this book after a few people recommended it to me. I was under the assumption that it was an innocent tale of love; happily, I was wrong in my assumption. This story, while about the various faces of "love," is more about connections and family. I found myself quite in love with the voice of the narrator, especially the dark humor and honesty expressed in situations. The time line of characters from children to adults is not one that I often enjoy, but it was quite interest
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Sep 14, 2011
Cindy
rated it:
A delightful story of an eccentric English family set between the wars. Linda has fled her banker husband and set up housekeeping with a communist:
"As she had never in her life done so much as make her own bed, I could not imagine Christian's flat could be very tidy or comfortable if it was being run by her . . . I think housework is far more tiring and frightening than hunting is, no comparison, and yet after hunting we had eggs for tea and were made to rest for hours, but after More...
"As she had never in her life done so much as make her own bed, I could not imagine Christian's flat could be very tidy or comfortable if it was being run by her . . . I think housework is far more tiring and frightening than hunting is, no comparison, and yet after hunting we had eggs for tea and were made to rest for hours, but after More...
Sep 08, 2011
Gary
rated it:
This growsis an interesting autobiographical novel. Nancy, Linda in the novel,grows up in a eccentric, upper class English country family which does not prepare her, or her sisters, for life in the real world. The girls all want to get married and escape their environment. Nancy goes through two disastrous marriages, becomes a Communist, and then meets the love of her life in France, but then World War II intervenes. This novel provides an excellent portrait of the stresses and strains of Eng
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Nov 26, 2010
Tommy
rated it:
Uncle Matthew is one of the best characters in fiction I've read recently. He's so quirky and awesome! This is about a rather wealthy eccentric family growing up in the countryside of England between the World Wars. You can easily see how this is the precursor to the current trend of memoir fiction and families like those portrayed in movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and Little Miss Sunshine.
The writing is pretty good too. Very sharp and witty. Worth a read although I hear the follow u More...
The writing is pretty good too. Very sharp and witty. Worth a read although I hear the follow u More...
Oct 02, 2011
Katherine
rated it:
After reading Jane Austen's "Emma" I was in the mood for something in the same vein, but a little different. I came across "The Pursuit of Love" on some random book list and decided to give it a try. I was blown away. This book will forever be on my list of favorites. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy! The humor was brilliant! It was a lot more modern than I was expecting, and delightfully dark at times. I wouldn't compare Mitford to Austen, but I'm extremely glad
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Jul 21, 2011
Mona
rated it: 
My copy has both The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. I finished reading The Pursuit of Love today, and will read Love in a Cold Climate after a break.
Thoughts on The Pursuit of Love
The beginning was absorbing, as the Radlett family (modeled after the Mitford family) is full of eccentric, and at times, explosive, personalities. The end has a little bit of that as well, and that was a nice break from the middle section.
The middle centers on Linda, one of More...
Thoughts on The Pursuit of Love
The beginning was absorbing, as the Radlett family (modeled after the Mitford family) is full of eccentric, and at times, explosive, personalities. The end has a little bit of that as well, and that was a nice break from the middle section.
The middle centers on Linda, one of More...
Dec 08, 2009
Karen
rated it:
"In the photograph Aunt Sadie's face, always beautiful, appears
strangely round, her hair strangely fluffy, and her clothes strangely
dowdy, but it is unmistakably she who sits there with Robin, in oceans
of lace, lolling on her knee. She seems uncertain of what to do with
his head, and the presence of Nanny waiting to take him away is felt
though not seen."
Irresistible! Such a droll tone which I found very, very funny. The parts about childhood are the More...
strangely round, her hair strangely fluffy, and her clothes strangely
dowdy, but it is unmistakably she who sits there with Robin, in oceans
of lace, lolling on her knee. She seems uncertain of what to do with
his head, and the presence of Nanny waiting to take him away is felt
though not seen."
Irresistible! Such a droll tone which I found very, very funny. The parts about childhood are the More...
Sep 05, 2009
Núria
rated it:
Esperaba mucho más de 'A la caza del amor'. En realidad esperaba que fuera como Jane Austen ambientada en la época de entreguerras. Y esperar esto es esperar demasiado. Esperaba sarcasmo hiriente y un ojo clínico capaz de retratar la hipocresía de una época y una clase social. Y lo único que encontré fue una ironía espumosa e inofensiva. Este libro es como una Coca-Cola que abriste ayer y hoy descubres que ha perdido todo el gas y todo el sabor. Es un libro superficial, intranscendente e inofens
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Apr 10, 2010
Laura
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I finally found this on ebook! A nice surprise is that the edition also contains Love in a Cold Climate and The Blessing. I had been wanting to read something by Mitford for a long while, having heard of her distinct sense of humor and colorful family history. I have to say she lives up to the hype, somehow successfully blending serious, sometimes tragic circumstances with searing wit. I can see how some would be turned off though--the viewpoint of her narrator is decidedly upper-class and has n
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Feb 09, 2010
russell
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 21, 2010
Lorna
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i had previously read the fantastic biography of the mitford sisters, so had an advantage in understanding the little quirks, but the story of the radlett family, linda in particular, in their endless pursuit of love was absolutely magnificent. it slots perfectly into the 1930s, is deeply romantic without being gushy and sickly, is laugh out loud funny in places and all in a brief experience of being in the english aristocracy at the end of Society. highly recommended.
Jan 09, 2012
June Louise
rated it:
This is an enjoyable light-read which focuses on the Radlett family, and Fanny, their cousin who is also the narrator. Based in the era preceding WW2, it follows the lives of the stern Uncle Matthew, the placid Aunt Sadie, their children (mostly Linda, whose lifelong quest for the perfect husband gives the book its title) and the very eccentric Lord Merlin.
The one thing that let the book down and stopped me giving it four stars was the extremely hurried ending. After the preceding cha More...
The one thing that let the book down and stopped me giving it four stars was the extremely hurried ending. After the preceding cha More...
