From the Bookshelf of Reading the 20th Century…

Cold Comfort Farm

Stella Gibbons,

Roz Chast (Illustrator)

Start date: February 1, 2019

Finish date: February 28, 2019

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Our February 2019 theme is humour. Many consider February to be the most depressing month of the year so …more
[close] Our February 2019 theme is humour. Many consider February to be the most depressing month of the year so what better than a group read we hope will make us smile, chuckle, laugh and maybe even guffaw. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons won the group read poll

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Group reads

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What Members Thought

Nov 22, 2020 Chrissie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-read, audible-uk, gothic, england, hf, classics, arts, humor, london, love

Extremely funny--a parody of great English classics, by authors such as Thomas Hardy, Mary Webb, the Brontë sisters and D.H. Lawrence. Gothic novels with their romance enveloped in doom and suspense are harpooned by wit and humor. Intellectuals and the literary community are satirized too.

The heroine is the lovely, recently orphaned nineteen-year-old Flora Poste. She has a head on her shoulders, and she uses it. When a calamity arises, when a problem needs to be solved, she doesn’t swoon or moa ...more

36 likes · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2010 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: 3ms, british-literature, fiction-20th-century, audio-books, between-wars, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, read-2013

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The adventures of Flora Poste, who embarks on a career as a parasite and moves in with the Starkadders of Howling

...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Dec 03, 2009 Ivan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm at work yesterday and I walk into a patient's room and she's reading "Cold Comfort Farm." I looked at her and said "I saw something nasty in the woodshed" and she looked at me and smiled. She told me it's her "comfort" read. I can understand that. It's one of my favorites - filled with memorable scenes and characters. I've read it twice and will read it again. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 10, 2025 Bronwyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, novels, european, audiobook, by-women, title-a-i, author-a-i, humor, 2025-reads

I kinda love when someone comes into a place and changes everyone’s lives. If done well, they’re so good. This was done well. Flora is great and sweet and knows how to help people just by being herself. This was funny hut heartfelt and beautiful. I’m glad I finally read this.

3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 24, 2018 Ivan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, re-reading

Still one of my favorites. I've just finished reading this for the third time - and I'm still smiling. The author tried to be prescient and add futuristic things like phones with screens (Facetime? Zoom?), a film producer wants another Clark Gable and says: "he was famous 40 years ago" - which makes you stop and scratch your head - "what year is it supposed to be in this narrative?" However, these things don't spoil the story. I just glossed over them - and, in my mind, the action takes place in ...more

2 likes · Like · see review