Pigeon Pie

by Nancy Mitford

British high society, spy stories, and goofy religious cults are all gently mocked in this inventive, stylish satire. When the highly imaginative Lady Sophia Garfield discovers a nest of very real German spies in her home, nobody believes her. With her maid murdered and her beloved bulldog held hostage, she sets out alone to gain proof and, with time out for tea at the Ritz, save Britain.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Satire, Mystery, British Literature, 20th Century

175 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 1940

About the author

Nancy Mitford, styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years. She was born at 1 Graham Street (now Graham Place) in Belgravia, London, the eldest daughter of Lord Redesdale, and was brought up at Asthall Manor in Oxfordshire. She was the eldest of the six controversial Mitford sisters.

She is best remembered for her series of novels about upper-class life in England and France, particularly the four published after 1945; but she also wrote four well-received, well-researched popular biographies (of Louis XIV, Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great). She was one of the noted Mitford sisters and the first to publicize the extraordinary family life of her very English and very eccentric family, giving rise to a "Mitford industry," which continues.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is ridiculous. Another early book by Mitford reflecting what she knows about life - everyone who counts is an aristocrat and lives in houses so big they don't know who else is living there! It's all about German spies and American spies and British counterspies in WWII.People hide in cupboards, are disposed of down main drains (blocks them) and belong to religious cults that seem to have no purpose. Nothing in the book is believable and for the first two thirds, it's too farcical to be more than mildly diverting.

The last third changes all that with, still unbelievable, some extremely silly action in working out the plot. It's actually quite enjoyable and made more so when I realised that it might actually have a basis in real life. Nancy Mitford was anti-Nazi, her sister Unity was in love with Hitler, Jessica was a Communist who became an American, Diana was a fascist and married Oswald Mosley, head of the British Fascist party at Joseph Goebbels house with Adolf Hitler as guest of honour.

The story was worked out very well. The goodies one, the baddies got put away and the poseurs got their comeuppance and Government continued to promote politicians with no known brain but good connections. Then as now.

The book like Christmas Pudding, which was written by Nancy about the same useless aristocratic types at around the same time, would also make an excellent drawing-room comedy. But more tongue in cheek than Christmas Pudding, it would be a sort of upper-class Dad's Army, the landed gentry rather than rag, tag and bobtail volunteers in a small seaside town.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been interesting reading others' thoughts on this book. There seems to be two camps, with a few falling middling in their thoughts between them. One camp adores the satire, wit, and humor in the absurdity of this story set during the 'phoney' war period. The other finds it in poor taste, cannot find Mitford relatable, and takes issue with the feelings of "them" vs. "us". Meaning "them" to be the aristocracy who go about life in a flippant manner and always have things turn out all right in the end for "them".

I'm in the camp who adored the satire, wit, and humor in the book. I wasn't really bothered with the portrayal of aristocracy because it truly fit into the stereotype Mitford is showing us. She's poking fun at the lifestyle and psychology of the entire bunch. I'm not entirely certain what sort of ending or comeuppance the second camp hoped to see for the characters. I found them likable and fairly harmless with faults falling into the realm of carelessness. Which carelessness is a trait F. Scott Fitzgerald observes in this class of people so it seems to be universal and expected, stereotypically. However, the real "baddies" do get their deserved desserts in the end so alls well that ends well.

The book:

... and Sophia feared that divorce, re-marriage, and subsequent poverty would not bring out the best in her character. pg. 15

Our heroine, Sophia (Lady Garfield), is a charming delight. She lives in a wonderfully large house and is married to a man she realized she didn't love on her honeymoon. Her husband finds value in her looks and charm. Part of her charm, is that Sophia has a talent in embroidering her own experiences and making others feel comfortable. She isn't known for being a great mind or thinker, instead, rather the opposite. Which makes her foiling a nest of Nazi spies quite absurdly funny.

Sophia realizes that she became fond of her husband once she realized he's a "great joke" and she likes jokes. They both live in a grand house with their respective lovers. It's quite amicable and everyone seems to get along marvelously. Luke (the husband) is a German sympathizer as he's made quite a bit of money in business dealings with the Germans. Sophia is quite loyal to England. So there is a divide brewing in the house. Throw in a secret society with German ties partly living in the house and you see where the story is headed.

Air raid warning Yellow', she had experienced the unhealthy glow of excitement that she might easily become a air raid addict, or take to air raids in the same way that people do to drugs, and for much the same reason. pg 49

Sophia takes a position at the First Aid Post. Nothing to do with actually giving first aid as she can't even bear to think or touch a knee joint. But still, she does important office work and marks foreheads in a triage sort of way. The above quote really highlighted the place marker in history we are reading about. England hasn't seen the atrocities of war yet. They haven't even really begun it. So there is a bit of a thrill in this change in life to someone who has become bored with her life. Luke has left for America. Her lover, Rudolph, is away in corps. training and potentially cheating on her with her archenemy. Sophia's social world has become limited. She's also experiencing a small awakening as she gets to know Sister Wordsworth, who oversees the Post. Sophia marvels that Sister Wordsworth is a nurse, certified midwife, a trained psychologist and has extensive knowledge of the law. Whereas Sophia is struggling to teach herself Morse Code via eyelid blinking. Yet, the point is that Sophia begins to realize there is more happening beyond her insular world of pink champagne and oysters. Though, she's experienced economy in having to have smoked salmon and claret with a friend having economic hardship.

However, this is a satirical novel and the serious nature of having classism revelations doesn't change the book nor is it very long lived. We are promptly thrown into a murder/kidnapping of Sophia's godfather, The King of Song with a penchant for blonde curl wigs. I won't divulge too many details as it's a hoot. I will say the bit about the Requiem Mass was one of my favorite parts of the book. Sophia stumbles upon a nest of Nazi spies in her house and to force her cooperation, they have dognapped, Milly, her French bulldog. This isn't to be beared. She must summon her reserves and wits to foil the dastardly plot and save Milly, her godfather, and England.

All right, keep your hair on,' said the old singer, taking his off and adjusting a curl. "Have another drink." pg. 45

An absolute pleasure to read.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Mitford must be the first author I read who manages to make a novel set in World War II funny. [The war is of course not something one would or want to laugh about but the book was written in its very early days, and as Mitford writes in her intro “was an early and important casualty of the real war which was then (1940) beginning”.] Sophia Garfield is our U heroine, rather indolent, but happy in her life. When war is declared in August 1939, she volunteers for work and finds herself at a First Aid Post where she (rather ineptly) makes her contributions. But soon her godfather is mysteriously murdered leaving her his heir and causing her a bit of excitement. Then it seems he isn’t dead at all but has switched loyalties. But has he really and why? Sophia also finds herself amidst another mystery when it appears (to which the readers pick up clues much earlier than Sophia herself—who doesn’t seem to notice or take in even things staring her right in the face) that there is a spy in their midst and she must take up the role of a counter-spy to her own delight. But she isn’t quite as up to the task as she imagined. Mitford’s writing and the plot (including the mystery elements) are both great fun as is our heroine whom one likes despite the fact she doesn’t always notice the obvious. I seem to have only mentioned our heroine but there is a whole cast of amusing characters including the Princess Olga (née Baby Bagg), who makes herself out to be in the secret service of the government; Luke, Sophia’s husband, member of the Boston Brotherhood; Ned and Fred, members in turn of the Cabinet; the Left supporter Mary Pencill, the furniture-purloiner Lady Beech, and Sir Ivor King, “King of Song” and among other things, presenter of a programme of songs for pets. Mitford also pokes fun at politics and politicians, even (perhaps applicable at other times too) at countries behaving not very unlike little children who have gotten out of hand. This was a rather delightful read.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
This is one of her earlier books, it was written and set during the phoney war period of WW2, before anyone knew just how bad the War was about to become. It is a rather silly comedy about a socialite who inadvertently becomes a 'beautiful female spy'. Sophia accidentally discovers a nest of German spies working from her house while her husband is away. Her sworn enemy, Olga, is going around pretending she is a BFS as well.
The cast of characters are similar to those you will find in other Mitford novels, naturally, as they tend to be a distorted version of her own family. I found this very amusing, but not as good as her better known novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two/thirds of this book is really disappointing. I even debated DNF-ing it. Then, boom, the final third of the book is great fun. A real 1930's screwball comedy vibe. If only she'd managed to have the entire book like that!

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

PIGEON PIE is an odd little novel. I enjoyed it, but I can certainly see why it sort of disappeared with the war. It's aged somewhat better than WIGS ON THE GREEN, though not by much.

I liked Sophia, even though she was TSTL 99% of the time. She only "solved" the mystery through sheer accident.

I didn't like most of the other characters. Rudolph, especially, I wanted to smack. Such a condescending, patronising man. And yes, Sophia WAS dumb as a sack of hair, but honestly!

I have mixed feelings about this one. I don't think you'll enjoy it if you mind idiot characters who ALWAYS make the wrong choice. But it was still very funny, especially whenever the King of Song appeared, or Olga.

Luckily THE PURSUIT OF LOVE is next.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a delightful read; I can't understand why I haven't heard of this book before. This actually manages is both a satire and funny at the same time--rather delightful and witty.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, Nancy Mitford pokes fun at everything she can: religion, war, the British love of pets, spies, double agents and most of all the upper classes!

A witty and VERY clever book! I loved it.

[Katie Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Published between 1900 and 1969** (1940)

The characters were shallow, but I'm assuming that was meant to be part of the satire. They also seemed to not care about faithfulness to 1 person and were prepared to sleep around with whoever would give them what they wanted.

But the spy aspect was fun and well done. And Mitford's ideas of what was going to happen in the "Bore War" (as Londoners called WWII before the bombings began) was clever. It was fun to read a story that was written in the midst of the war. I also chuckled at her explanation of how the different countries joined (or didn't join) the war:

"England picked up France, Germany picked up Italy. England beckoned to Poland, Germany answered with Russia. Then Italy's Nanny said she had fallen down and grazed her knee, running, and mustn't play. England picked up Turkey, Germany picked up Spain, but Spain's Nanny said she had internal troubles, and must sit this one out. England looked towards the Oslo group, but they had never played before, except little Belgium, who had hated it, and the others felt shy. America, of course, was too much of a baby for such a grown-up game, but she was just longing to see it played. And still it would not begin."

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a bit of character development this might have been a lot better, but it was a saucy little caper! Decidedly politically incorrect by today's standards.

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore books like this - light, but not trivial. It made me smile a lot and laugh out loud several times. Like the heroine, whatever the poltics of the serious person I am talking to, I am often accused of being too flippant, and belonging to the other side.

If the following extract doesn't amuse you, then you won't like Nancy Mitford.

'...my poor cousins...fallen into Bolshevik hands. You know what that meant in Russia - they were given over to their peasantry to do as they liked with.' Olga gave a tremendous shudder.
Sophia said there must be something wrong somewhere. If the Duchess of Devonshire, for instance, was handed over to the peasantry to do as they liked with, they would no doubt put her in the best bedroom and get her a cup of tea. 'If the peasantry are really such demons,' she said, 'whose fault is that, pray?'

I enjoyed reading it again. Great book. I'll keep it for the next time I have flu.

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was amused by this light hearted satire, especially considering it was written at the beginning of WWII without the knowledge of the damage and human suffering that was to be the result. It would have made for interesting dinner conversations provided the Mitford sisters were still on speaking terms.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2. A bit of silly fun and satire, set during the Phoney War, with typically Mitford characters getting caught up in the exploits of a band of German spies. I very much enjoyed the characters and comparing/contrasting Sophia's experiences during this time period with the Provincial Lady's, as that book is still relatively fresh in my mind. It's not essential Mitford, but still an enjoyable, quick read.

[Mrs]

A wartime romp. Lady Sophia gets caught up in a spy ring operating from her house. Familiar tone and tropes to other NMs I have read - its frivolity is fun but is slightly jarring bearing in mind what was to come in the war. She does start the second edition onwards with an apology as it was written in 1939. It’s not that it’s irreverent but I guess normally the war is treated so seriously.

[Donna LaValley · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

In this quick satire, the author mocks the attempts of the British upper classes to take part in the war effort (World War II). Lady Sophia, of course, would like to be a beautiful female spy, as would all her friends. Olga, her catty “friend” is already claiming to be one.

As usual in her books, the main characters are married and each has a lover. The social circle includes all of these plus the lover’s friends and associates, if they are acceptable.

Sophia’s lover is Rudolph. Her husband Luke’s lover is Florence. Florence’s lover is – someone else and something else!

From p. 9: “Sophia and Rudolph loved each other very much. This does not mean that it had ever occurred to them to alter the present situation, which seemed exactly to suit all parties; Rudolph was unable to visualize himself a married man, and Sophia feared that divorce, re-marriage and subsequent poverty would not bring out the best in her character. As for Luke, he took up with a …soulmate called Florence, and was perfectly contented with matters as they stood. Sophia… did radiate an atmosphere of security and of the inevitability of upper-class status quo.”

Here is a conversation between Sophia and Rudolph after Sophia realizes Rudolph has suddenly taken a fancy to the odious Olga, p. 40. “Sophia saw that she must look out. She knew very well that when a man is thoroughly disloyal about a woman, and at the same time begins to indulge in her company, he nearly always intends to have an affair with that woman. The disloyalty is in itself a danger signal. She would not have supposed that Olga was exactly to Rudolph’s taste, but these things do not follow any known rules and you never can tell.

“ ‘Beastly fellow,’ she said. ‘I see you are in love with her.’

‘Rather.’ Sophia got up and rang the bell for the cocktail things. ‘I say, darling, by the way, you know Florence?’

‘Yes, I’m in love with her too, of course?’

‘Very likely. Anyhow….’”

Sophia explains that the pious, self-righteous Florence (who lives in Sophia and Luke’s manse) may be nicer than they thought because she has a pet pigeon. (yes, the reader may deduce correctly what the purpose of said pigeon really is). Florence invites them both to attend a meeting of the European Brotherhood, but “Sophia and Rudolph hurriedly explained that they had a very long-standing engagement for the following evening. Florence looked a bit crucified and said how strange it must seem to live in a perpetual whirl of thoughtless gaiety.”

There is irony of situation in this farce, and it’s even more amusing on a second reading. However, there are many references to localisms of the time and in-joke allusions to people and places that only readers of that era may understand.

There is actual suspense as well as the satire and irony.

[Verte · Rating 1 out of 5]

God, the main protagonist annoys me to death. I got an audiobook and listened to it - for a long, long time it was such a boring book, listing some trivia I was not interested in. Blah blah, unfaithful husband, blah blah tolerant wife, blah blah some frenemy and the full frenemy biography, blah. Then, it picked up somewhat with a murder, and stuff (won't tell you, don't want to spoil it for you, if you decide to read or t listen to this bore). And then I started really get annoyed with the female protagonist. She does stupid things to "outsmart" the police, because she is jealous of her frenemy and wants to be called a "beautiful female spy". It was so petty and childish, but, then, of course, because of this, she got into trouble and we are supposed to feel bad for her. The only feeling I had is to slap her hard. Especially when she just laughed when she found out how her maid was killed. She could have saved lives, do something worthy as opposed to her empty existence, and she blew it all up to show off to her frenemy. She came up as fibble minded, jealous, incapable of keeping her husband or lover, empty female who thought that she was better than a trained policeman or a security service employee just because of her background. Her fake feeling of superiority annoyed me all the time.

[Moi · Rating 3 out of 5]

middling 3s -- amusing, but nothing brilliant

nancy mitford's satire of the Bright Young(-ish) Things coming to terms with World War II is a mishmash of funny and trite, verging on witty. the plot carefully balances on the (often horrible) choices of her very recognizable main character, fairly successfully moving things forward at a satisfying clip -- so i'd say mitford's mechanics had improved satisfactorily by this point in her writing career. every word positively drips with satire, but it often reads as a superficial, almost cheapish kind of joke, as opposed to a wise or skewering kind of reproach. nancy mitford is like the clever kardashian of the titled set, if you catch my drift; reading her is a class voyeur's dream, but her worldview is so circumscribed that her smug self-satisfaction is puzzling and often grating.

still, a fun read.

[russell barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Mitford, to World War II spies, and now back to Mitford doing World War II spies. I know which ones I preferred...

It's another one of her early novels, so another riotous romp in the vein of Christmas Pudding than her better known, more structured and knowing novels like Love in a Cold Climate.

This is no bad thing as it's ripping read, populated by brilliantly larger-than-life characters, including the wonderfully understated heroine Lady Sophia, who seems to stumble from dinner at the Ritz, to a murder investigation to her First Aid post, and all with the wide-eyed innocence and cutting wit that made Nancy so famous.

A brilliant way to start the year.

[Anthony Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much as I love Nancy Mitford's later books, I almost gave up on this one after 50 pages. The plot certainly has zest, and the fact that she was able to write a jeu d'esprit such as this in the opening year of World War II provides an interesting insight on Britain's national mood at the time. But the writing is not yet assured, and the jokes are not as good, as in her post-war novels - so although she was 35 when she wrote it, I would bracket it under 'Juvenilia'.

[Griselda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacks the appeal of the 'Hons', but has a stylishly drawn central character and the period feel of a section of society not often depicted against th.e backdrop of war

[Girl with her Head in a Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mitford Sisters really do put the Kardashians into perspective. Who really cares about those blank-faced and dead-eyed K-obsessed women living out their lives on Twitter and Instagram - the Mitfords were doing the whole celebrity thing a half century beforehand and they even managed to keep their clothes on. When I was studying my 1940s module at university, a girl in my tutorial group got very irate (her face turned red) when we refused to agree with her that the Mitfords had been the most influential people of the decade (we pointed out that Hitler, Stalin and Churchill had been fairly prominent too but she wasn't having it). Still, there is something about that family - I suspect that Nancy Mitford's writing would have gained notice whether or not she was actually any good at it, the Mitford name is simply that powerful. As it is though, she is a comic genius and I had a ball reading Pigeon Pie, a truly hilarious pastiche of early wartime Britain. There is no way any of the Kardashian sisters could produce something with even a whiff of the wit which Nancy pulls off quite so effortlessly.

Rather strangely for Nancy Mitford, the novel is prefaced with an apology - she explains that Pigeon Pie was written by Christmas 1939 and published in May 1940. In short, the novel is a product of its very particular time - that very short period between the Declaration of War in September 1939 and the start of the total war. Pigeon Pie seems to have been one of the less mourned casualties of the war as its humourous take on the Phony War seemed in very poor taste when the conflict got into full swing. Yet this is a terrible shame - I no more felt that Pigeon Pie made light of real warfare than I think that Father Ted is intended as a criticism of the Catholic Church. Nancy Mitford was all too aware of the implications of warfare - her sister Unity shot herself in the head on the first day of the war and with one sister (Jessica) an ardent Communist and another (Diana) married to Oswald Moseley, one can imagine that a certain amount of humour was necessary for retaining one's sanity.

Pigeon Pie's heroine is Sophia Garfield; lethargic aristocrat, indifferent wife and a fairly obvious proxy for Nancy Mitford herself. As with her other better known works, Nancy is happy to skewer her own social class with a wincing wit and some razor-sharp one-liners, however she nails her colours to the mast early on when Sophia first hears that war has been declared while aboard a train; a passenger who Sophia has already assessed as a very 'nasty lady' tells the rest of the carriage that mark her words, 'this will mean another shilling on the income tax.' Sophia is later overcome with distress to see a church surrounded with sandbags, that people are really willing to go to so much trouble to protect quite such a very ugly Victorian church. She is convinced that the war will end in catastrophe and envisages herself searching fruitlessly amongst the rubble for 'her husband, her lover and her dog' - and indeed there is the heavy suspicion that she would be looking for them in that order.

Strangely - and indeed in tone there could be hardly two books less alike - I was reminded of Suite Francaise for the way in which Pigeon Post recalled the mood of a moment in history. The paragraph at the beginning of the third chapter is so howlingly funny that it is impossible to imagine Mitford having used it only once. It describes how the countries were like children picking sides 'and until the sides had been picked up the game could not start. England picked up France, Germany picked up Italy, England beckoned to Poland, Germany answered with Russia. Then Italy's Nanny said she had fallen down and grazed her knee, running, and mustn't play. England picked up Turkey, Germany picked up Spain, but Spain's Nanny said she had internal troubles, and must sit this one out. England looked towards the Oslo group, but they had never played before, except little Belgium, who had hated it, and the others felt shy. America, of course, was too much of a baby for such a grown-up game, but she was longing to see it played. And still it would not begin'.


Surely this was a quip that Nancy rolled out repeatedly at the time as the Phoney War stretched on - it has the feel of an utterance that Nancy was rather proud of. Similarly, the frantic rush to dishown any belief in Appeasement was caught with the eye of an observer. The Phoney War is not part of the popular history of the Second World War - we think of the Evacuation, the Blitz spirit, the Dunkirk retreat, the D-Day landings, but the Phoney War now is simply the calm before the storm, but Nancy Mitford is writing in a nation that does not know quite what the nature of said storm will be. Nancy Mitford is the disgusted eyewitness, fed up with the latest mess the tiresome politicians have landed the country in, sighing in derision from behind a mist of cigarette smoke. Her protagonist Sophia considers taking to raids as others take to drugs, enjoying the excitement, but yet she loathes the wireless as a 'living force for evil within the land' which offers nothing more than 'facetiousness and jazz' to a nation of anxious women. For all the frivolity, there is still a sense of mood.

There are so many fabulous characters in Pigeon Pie, the members of the Brotherhood to whom Sophia's husband belongs, Sophia's husband Luke himself who is so personally offended by the outbreak of war, but my favourite is definitely Sophia's long-term nemesis Olga. Having been mortal enemies since the age of ten, the two of them enjoy each other's company immensely, Sophia is beside herself with delight when Olga arrives at a function wearing a snood but is frequently infuriated by Olga's insistence on pretending to be Russian and or a spy. Sophia herself is whiling away the time apart from her lover Rudolph by being a terribly committed sort of assistant at a First Aid Post and trying to make it sound more glamourous than it truly is - naturally this means that she stumbles into a complex and deadly spy-ring run out of her own home by her husband's mistress.

Life becomes terribly exciting but also rather dangerous - Sophia's godfather has vanished, her husband has gone off to America to lick his wounds about the breakdown of the Munich Agreement ("Luke hates jokes and hates the war, isn't it lucky he's going to America where they have neither," said Sophia innocently) and then her lover reacts in disgust - having just heard from Olga about her own fictional espionage activities, poor Rudolph is horrified by just how boring women have become in wartime. Pigeon Pie deals its humour in lightning quick succession - when Sophia's pug Millicent is kidnapped to ensure Sophia's cooperation, the spy tells her that if she does as she is told, the dog will be 'back once more under your eiderdown' and in true Mitfordian style, Sophia automatically snaps out, "Quilt" before realising what is happening and launching into him in defence of her adored pooch.

As a satire about the upper classes' reaction to the war, Pigeon Pie is a true delight. It is not my favourite Mitford, its tone is flippant and it does not have the same affection that drew me to The Pursuit Of Love or Love In A Cold Climate but yet it does have an intelligence and a sense of clear-eyed forboding that she is writing about a world whose days are numbered, her own life of titled privilege will never be the same again. I had forgotten how every time I read Nancy Mitford, I have to fight the urge to put on a sequinned dress and take up smoking - she was one of the greatest satirists of the twentieth century, I really can't help but wonder what on earth she would have made of the Kardashians.

For my full review: http://www.girlwithherheadinabook.blo...

[Daniel Blok · Rating 2 out of 5]

Social satire? Spy novel pastiche? Anti-war pamphlet? This is a bit of a hodgepodge. It starts as an ironic comment on the British upper crust while England is on the brink of WW II, then turns into a kind of murder mystery with foreign spies all over the place.
Mitford seems to have developed the plot during the writing process: 'Well, let's see... What shall I have happen next?'. The book is well written and has its funny moments, but the story is flimsy, childish and a bit silly.
Published in the year the war started, but obviously written some time earlier, the book contains a sort of disclaimer about its content Mitford wrote afterwards.
This did not age very well.

[Chris Passingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again not one of her best. But, remember, her worst is better than many other writers best.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written during the first few months of the second world war – the tone of Pigeon Pie is tongue-in-cheek and satirical. Mitford could not then have known the terrible catastrophic toll the war would take. Britain was in the throes of what came to be known as the phoney war. In a note added to the beginning of this novel in 1951 – Nancy Mitford urges readers of the second edition to remember that the novel was written before Christmas 1939, published on the 6th May 1940 it was…

“an early and unimportant casualty of the real war which was then beginning”
(Nancy Mitford Paris, 1951)

However, Nancy Mitford was a great wit, a famous tease – she could winkle out the humour in most situations. Later of course she came to take the war very seriously indeed – and was instrumental in having her own sister (Diana Moseley) and her brother-in-law interned.

Pigeon Pie is not Nancy Mitford’s best novel, but it is as entertaining and engaging, as I always find her to be.

Book review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2016/...

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It's in all the British papers -- Germany has invaded Poland, war has begun -- and it could cause the comfortably situated Lady Sophia Garfield some inconvenience, especially when her doddery but celebrated godfather, England's bewigged and beloved King of Song, disappears, her "German maid suffers a ghastly demise, and her pampered French bulldog is apparently taken hostage. Then there's that house guest at the Garfields' London residence who keeps a pigeon as a pet. Convinced that she's harboring a nest of nasty German spies in her own home, the doughty Sophia sets out between social engagements at the Ritz or Cafe Royal to save her household and the nation from that impudent Fuhrer's reach in this delightfully astringent novel thaqt makes satiric sport of spy stories, British pluck and England's upper classes,"
~~back cover

This was indeed quite the romp -- zany, silly and foolish. And of course delightful.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophia poured out tea, and asked after his Lesbian irises. ‘They were not what they seemed,’ he said, ‘wretched things. I brought the roots all the way from Lesbos, as you know, and when they came up, what were they? Mere pansies. Too mortifying. And now I’m the air-raid warden for Kew Gardens, in a tin hat – and it will be years before I visit Greece again. It may be for years, and it may-hay be for ever.

This is a satirical spy story set 1939 during the Phoney War. I found it very funny and really enjoyed it. I would say that it’s my favourite of Nancy Mitford’s first four novels. 4.5 stars

[Kay Robart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pigeon Pie is a silly little spy saga and satire of society by Nancy Mitford set at the beginning of World War II. The heroine is a frivolous society matron who realizes that her husband has introduced Nazi spies into her household. The novel is funny, especially the character of a faux Russian aristocrat, but it is not as good as the novels Mitford is more famous for, Love in a Cold Climate and In Pursuit of Love.

See my complete review here:

http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/p...

[Kj62 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read/re-read all eight of Nancy Mitford's books in chronological order (in the Penguin Kindle complete novels edition, which has a good introduction by India Knight).
It's a good way of seeing how her style and skill developed through a long life of writing. Nancy Mitford is like a 20th Century Jane Austen: a witty observer of her own part of society, who manages to define it for us who read her now.
She does quite a difficult thing in this one: creating a heroine who is not intellectual but is intelligent, and move the plot forward almost by accident.

[Florita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a funny book. I loved it. Unfortunately I couldn't read it on public transport as the copy a friend lent me was a very old Penguin paperback edition that had swastikas all over the cover! Someone could very easily have got the wrong idea.

The reason for the swastika artwork, in case you were wondering, is that this is a farce featuring German and British spies in 1939. Unlike her sisters, Unity and Diana, Nancy had no fascist sympathies.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarre, but funny. Nancy Mitford's second novel is…a spy story. About Germans in England during the "Phony War" period. You've never heard of it, because she had the misfortune to publish it in May, 1940, just as Hitler was rolling up France. Suddenly, the book was anything but funny. It fizzled at the time. But it's actually quite cute, 65 years later.