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The Pursuit of Love (Radlett and Montdore Book 1) Kindle Edition
“Mitford, describing in a tart and easy fashion the diverting activities of a titled English family, is mocking, good-tempered, and very funny.” —The New Yorker
Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin Fanny, who stays with them at Alconleigh, their Gloucestershire estate. Uncle Matthew is the blustering patriarch, known to hunt his children when foxes are scarce; Aunt Sadie is the vague but doting mother; and the seven Radlett children, despite the delights of their unusual childhood, are recklessly eager to grow up.
The first of three novels featuring these characters, The Pursuit of Love follows the travails of Linda, the most beautiful and wayward Radlett daughter, who falls first for a stuffy Tory politician, then an ardent Communist, and finally a French duke named Fabrice.
Featuring an introduction by Zoë Heller.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateAugust 10, 2010
- File size3911 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The deliriously foolish story of an inane but charming girl and her outrageously eccentric family.” —The New York Times
“Utter, utter bliss.” —The Daily Mail (London)
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
There is a photograph in existence of Aunt Sadie and her six children sitting round the tea-table at Alconleigh. The table is situated, as it was, is now, and ever shall be, in the hall, in front of a huge open fire of logs. Over the chimney-piece plainly visible in the photograph, hangs an entrenching tool, with which, in 1915, Uncle Matthew had whacked to death eight Germans one by one as they crawled out of a dug-out. It is still covered with blood and hairs, an object of fascination to us as children. 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 what to do with his head, and the presence of Nanny waiting to take him away is felt though not seen. The other children, between Louisa’s eleven and Matt’s two years, sit round the table in party dresses or frilly bibs, holding cups or mugs according to age, all of them gazing at the camera with large eyes opened wide by the flash, and all looking as if butter would not melt in their round pursed-up mouths. There they are, held like flies in the amber of that moment—click goes the camera and on goes life; the minutes, the days, the years, the decades, taking them further and further from that happiness and promise of youth, from the hopes Aunt Sadie must have had for them, and from the dreams they dreamed for themselves. I often think there is nothing quite so poignantly sad as old family groups.
When a child I spent my Christmas holidays at Alconleigh, it was a regular feature of my life, and, while some of them slipped by with nothing much to remember, others were distinguished by violent occurrences and had a definite character of their own. There was the time, for example, when the servants’ wing caught fire, the time when my pony lay on me in the brook and nearly drowned me (not very nearly, he was soon dragged off, but meanwhile bubbles were said to have been observed). There was drama when Linda, aged ten, attempted suicide in order to rejoin an old smelly Border Terrier which Uncle Matthew had had put down. She collected and ate a basketful of yew-berries, was discovered by Nanny and given mustard and water to make her sick. She was then “spoken to” by Aunt Sadie, clipped over the ear by Uncle Matthew, put to bed for two days and given a Labrador puppy, which soon took the place of the old Border in her affections. There was much worse drama when Linda, aged twelve, told the daughters of neighbours, who had come to tea, what she supposed to be the facts of life. Linda’s presentation of the “facts” had been so gruesome that the children left Alconleigh howling dismally, their nerves permanently impaired, their future chances of a sane and happy sex life much reduced. This resulted in a series of dreadful punishments, from a real beating, administered by Uncle Matthew, to luncheon upstairs for a week. There was the unforgettable holiday when Uncle Matthew and Aunt Sadie went to Canada. The Radlett children would rush for the newspapers every day hoping to see that their parents’ ship had gone down with all aboard; they yearned to be total orphans—especially Linda, who saw herself as Katie in What Katie Did,the reins of the household gathered into small but capable hands. The ship met with no iceberg and weathered the Atlantic storms, but meanwhile we had a wonderful holiday, free from rules.
But the Christmas I remember most clearly of all was when I was fourteen and Aunt Emily became engaged. Aunt Emily was Aunt Sadie’s sister, and she had brought me up from babyhood, my own mother, their youngest sister, having felt herself too beautiful and too gay to be burdened with a child at the age of nineteen. She left my father when I was a month old, and subsequently ran away so often, and with so many different people, that she became known to her family and friends as the Bolter; while my father’s second, and presently his third, fourth and fifth wives, very naturally had no great wish to look after me. Occasionally one of these impetuous parents would appear like a rocket, casting an unnatural glow upon my horizon. They had great glamour, and I longed to be caught up in their fiery trails and be carried away, though in my heart I knew how lucky I was to have Aunt Emily. By degrees, as I grew up, they lost all charm for me; the cold grey rocket cases mouldered where they had happened to fall, my mother with a major in the South of France, my father, his estates sold up to pay his debts, with an old Rumanian countess in the Bahamas. Even before I was grown up much of the glamour with which they had been surrounded had faded, and finally there was nothing left, no foundation of childish memories to make them seem any different from other middle-aged people. Aunt Emily was never glamorous but she was always my mother, and I loved her.
At the time of which I write, however, I was at an age when the least imaginative child supposes itself to be a changeling, a Princess of Indian blood, Joan of Arc, or the future Empress of Russia. I hankered after my parents, put on an idiotic face which was intended to convey mingled suffering and pride when their names were mentioned, and thought of them as engulfed in deep, romantic, deadly sin.
Linda and I were very much preoccupied with sin, and our great hero was Oscar Wilde.
“But what did he do?”
“I asked Fa once and he roared at me—goodness, it was terrifying. He said: ‘If you mention that sewer’s name again in this house I’ll thrash you, do you hear, damn you?’ So I asked Sadie and she looked awfully vague and said: ‘Oh, duck, I never really quite knew, but whatever it was was worse than murder, fearfully bad. And, darling, don’t talk about him at meals, will you?’”
“We must find out.”
“Bob says he will, when he goes to Eton.”
“Oh, good! Do you think he was worse than Mummy and Daddy?”
“Surely he couldn’t be. Oh, you are so lucky to have wicked parents.”
Product details
- ASIN : B003F3PMKC
- Publisher : Vintage; 1st edition (August 10, 2010)
- Publication date : August 10, 2010
- Language : English
- File size : 3911 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 242 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #200,228 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #261 in British & Irish Literary Fiction
- #751 in Romance Literary Fiction
- #1,487 in Contemporary Literary Fiction
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Customers find the humor in the book witty and wry. They describe the book as a delightful, enchanting read. Readers praise the writing quality as well-written and easy to read. However, some find the pacing boring, trite, and lacking depth. Opinions are mixed on the story quality, with some finding it sucks them in and keeps their interest, while others say it's hard to grasp and the ending is abrupt.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the humor in the book witty, amusing, and wry. They appreciate the rich and fun characterisation. Readers also describe the book as an easy read with scathing wit and smart tricksters.
"I loved this book. I appreciated the wit, the dry British humor and the wonderful character development, all coming from a writer with no literary..." Read more
"...It reads quickly and well, highly articulated, rather bleak...." Read more
"...starts and the shame of an unfashionable frock are told with great understated humor...." Read more
"...Beautifully drawn characters, exquisite writing, and hysterically funny scenes make this a gem of a novel that has withstood the test of time since..." Read more
Customers find the book delightful, awesome, and enchanting. They say it reads quickly and well. Readers also mention it's a real page-turner with wonderful bon mots and stylishly evocative of a bygone era.
"...Certainly worth a read." Read more
"This is a wonderful novel in a brittle midcentury manner. It reads quickly and well, highly articulated, rather bleak...." Read more
"...This book is ok, I am still reading it, but not much happens, and the writing is nothing special. I have had no problem at all with the..." Read more
"...It is an excellant read and does a very good job of describing the lives of the upper crust people of this time...." Read more
Customers find the writing quality of the book well-written, easy to read, and enjoyable. They also mention the pacing is not dulling.
"...There is a great difference in the writing style between the first 180 pages and the last 20 --- most of the book is written in a light hearted way,..." Read more
"This is a wonderful novel in a brittle midcentury manner. It reads quickly and well, highly articulated, rather bleak...." Read more
"...Beautifully drawn characters, exquisite writing, and hysterically funny scenes make this a gem of a novel that has withstood the test of time since..." Read more
"I would say for a story set between the 2 wars the pace is not dulling, hurries along as Fanny narrates the life of her cousin Linda, intertwined..." Read more
Customers find the book educational and touching. They say it provides substantial insight into the mindset of the British upper class in the period. Readers also mention the book is magical.
"...I think it provides substantial insight into the mindset of the British upper class in the period within the world wars." Read more
"...Well-drawn portraits of certain "types", yet extremely thoughtful and exquisitely human commentary on Anglo society." Read more
"...I can't wait to read the second book. It's magical!" Read more
"Very well written book. Funny and sad at the same time. Interesting glimpse into the world of the British aristocracy written by someone who new it." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the story quality. Some mention the story sucks them in and the prose is admirable, while others say the plot really goes nowhere, the ending is rather abrupt, and the book never gets interesting.
"...this a few times, but after the first 20 pages, I'm not sucked into the story at all...." Read more
"Well written and insightful tale of a society woman of her era - not educated and no expectations of a meaningful life." Read more
"...The ending was rather abrupt." Read more
"...I can not read this, story too hard to grasp. Please take back the book and refund me." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book. Some mention the characters are excellently defined and cunningly portrayed, while others say they lack depth.
"...I appreciated the wit, the dry British humor and the wonderful character development, all coming from a writer with no literary education..." Read more
"...Way too much exposition for modern tastes, half the characters are flat as if the author didn't have enough imagination to create too many, and none..." Read more
"...They are cunningly portrayed, and despite the presence now of "experts", we continue to hear their words of wisdom or not so wisdom...." Read more
"...Beautifully drawn characters, exquisite writing, and hysterically funny scenes make this a gem of a novel that has withstood the test of time since..." Read more
Customers find the pacing of the book boring, trite, and lacking depth. They also say the book is self-indulgent, shallow, and vapid.
"...Way too much exposition for modern tastes, half the characters are flat as if the author didn't have enough imagination to create too many, and none..." Read more
"It was a real struggle to get through this book. Linda, the main character, was a very immature narcissistic person...." Read more
"...I kept wondering what was so wonderful about these self-indulgent, shallow, and vapid characters. Never really got into it." Read more
"...by other members of that family circle that I was disappointed with this piece of social trivia. Just not my cup of tea!" Read more
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Linda lives for love, and her lack of education and enforced lack of interests insure that love remains a central preoccupation. Her cousin Fanny narrates her study with wit and empathy. The false starts and the shame of an unfashionable frock are told with great understated humor. There are characters that we seem to know even in their absence. Fanny's mother is "The Bolter" who seems to run from every relationship and has left Fanny to be raised by her aunt. This book gives us the indelible description of new born baby as "the usual horrible sight of a screaming orange in a black wig." For poor Linda has married in haste, and after a tough pregnancy is not enchanted with her baby. Now doctors diagnosis this as postpartum depression, but for Linda, an aunt comments that she is too young to be taken with a child like an older woman. This book takes us to an earlier age when much of the commentary on life's challenges come from an aunt or a mother. They are cunningly portrayed, and despite the presence now of "experts", we continue to hear their words of wisdom or not so wisdom.
Linda comes to love her baby but goes back to her search for love. World War II enters the picture and alters the world of the hons forever. This book takes us through the changes as our two young women try to make sense of their places in the bigger world outside the Hon closet. If you haven't read it, do it right away.
I have had no problem at all with the order or shipping of this book.
The narrator is Fanny, a niece abandoned by her fun-loving parents who had no desire to be bound by a child. Her mother, always referred to as The Bolter, makes rare appearances in Fanny's life and none so significant as when she delivers the final line of this novel, one of the best I can recall to close out a tale.
The characters and the story are seen through Fanny's eyes and she recounts their trials and tribulations with a frank and conversational tone that puts you firmly at home at Alconleigh, their cold and sparsely decorated ancestral home. Most notable amongst the characters is Linda, who flits from man to man in a self-centered and very worldly lifestyle that is both repelling and at the same time completely captivating. The terrifying Uncle Matthew is also notable for his harsh punishments and hatred of foreigners, but who suffers from a soft spot when it comes to his family and his beloved England.
Beautifully drawn characters, exquisite writing, and hysterically funny scenes make this a gem of a novel that has withstood the test of time since its 1945 publication.
Top reviews from other countries
Non un libro particolarmente brillante, a mio parere, ma sicuramente interessante e piacevole da leggere.
El libro es nuevo y estaba en perfecto estado incluso el paquete.
The Pursuit of Love is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric. Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family.
The book is centred around the eccentrics of aristocratic Radlett family and is told from Fanny's point of view, a cousin who spends most of her time with them. The tale follows beautiful and young Linda, the most whimsical and extravagant of the five Radlett children, in her pursuit of love. The book is hilarious in places but beneath the brittle surface of the novel’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. I have seldom read books which look so simple and easy on the surface but tackle such depth, carry with them such observations that you would expect from the more 'serious' works.
Mitford expunges the glitter to expose the terrible disappointments that are inevitable in life. Nevertheless, we are left with a feeling of optimism and faith.