Pursuit of Love

'A masterpiece ... The Pursuit of Love is one of the funniest books ever written' India Knight, The TimesNancy Mitford's brilliantly witty, irreverent stories of the upper classes in pre-war London and Paris conjure up a world of glamour, gossip and decadence. In The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate and The Blessing, her extraordinary heroines deal with armies of eccentric relatives, the excitement of love and passion, and the thrills of the social Season. But beneath the perfectly timed comic dialogue, these novels are also bittersweet reminders of the brevity of life and love.With an Introduction by Philip Hensher'A kind of perfection' Olivia Laing, Guardian'Peerless ... beneath the surface of Mitford's wit, there is something infinitely more melancholy at work' Zoe Heller

Utter, utter bliss—Daily MailA dazzling comic delight—Fiona Wilson, The Times, Saturday ReviewThe story's genius lies in its wicked humour, which remains relentlessly uplifting even as the Blitz begin to smash all the hopes of that pre-war arcadia—Olivia Laing, The GuardianToo spiky and intelligent, I think, to qualify as an altogether cosy read [...] beneath the brittle surface of Mitford's wit there is something infinitely more melancholy at work - something that is apt to snag you and pull you into its dark undertow when you are least expecting it—Zoë Heller, The TelegraphNancy Mitford taught the wonderful truth that laughter can see you through the darkest hours of your life—Daily MailThe Millennial faint-hearted will be appalled by Mitford's depiction of class and gender. But Mitford's triumph is that, as the Radletts live and laugh and cry, we [cry] with them—Julie Parsons, The Irish TimesIn her novels Nancy mastered her life, making everyone who was different or difficult into figures of mirth, moving only among the aristocracy, and infusing the world with a spirit of lazy, delightful romance—Natasha Walter, The IndependentUtter, utter bliss—Daily MailA dazzling comic delight. —Fiona Wilson, The Times, Saturday Review

Born into one of the aristocracy's more eccentric families and educated at home with a clutch of siblings, Mitford used childhood experience, lightly fictionalised, in her comic novels. She also wrote biographies, translated from the French and edited a celebrated symposium on English Aristocrats.