Book Review: The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

The Pursuit of Love. Nancy Mitford. Penguin Books (1999) (First published 1945). 192 pages. Genre: Classic.

First Line: "There is a photograph in existence of Aunt Sadie and her six children sitting round the tea-table at Alconleigh."

Summary:  When Fanny Wincham was a baby, her mother left her and her father to pursue other interests.  Consequently, she was brought up by Aunt Emily, sister of her mother. Aunt Sadie, another sister, had a family of her own consisting of six children and her husband Matthew Radlett.  Fanny spent many summers and holidays at Alconleigh with the Radletts.  She was closest in age to Linda and the two of them spent most of their time together. 

After being introduced to society, Linda fell in love with the first man who showed an interest in her.  Unfortunately, she soon fell out of love.  Fanny tells the story of Linda's search for love. 

My thoughts:  This is a rather sad tale, but it is told with a good amount of humor.  I love the author's writing style.  Linda seems quite clueless when it comes to meaningful relationships which leads to much heartbreak.  

The story starts when the girls are about fourteen.  Aunt Emily, who has never been married, has become engaged.  Fanny is not sure how to feel about this.  It will certainly change her life to have a man living in the house.  Fortunately, Davey is a kind man and seems to really care about Fanny.  He is quirky and always concerned about his digestion.  

Uncle Matthew is often annoyed by Davey and his constant talk about foods and digestion.  He considers him to be a coward.  But, Uncle Matthew is easily annoyed.  He is quick to become angry and often roars and becomes red in the face.  However, his anger leaves almost as quickly as it appears.  It does cause the children stress and often Fanny needs to recover after spending time with the Radletts. 

We don't get to know any of the other children very well.  A few are mentioned in passing, but the bulk of the story is about Linda.  Fanny's mother has a bad reputation amongst the Radletts because she left her husband and child and ran away with another man.  She then proceeded to run away from him to another man, etc.  The Radletts refer to her as "the Bolter". From a young age, Linda realizes she doesn't want to be like her.  But one day she realizes she has turned out just like her.  Since the story is being told by Fanny, I didn't feel like we really got into Linda's head to understand her thought process.  But, since this is satire, I don't think we were supposed to.  It seemed like Linda just couldn't help herself.  She thought she was in love, but when something better came along, she realized she must not have been in love after all.  And since being in love was the goal, she better pursue this shiny, new love. The author does a good job of showing the frivolousness of Linda's life.  She gives a clue as to what may have led to this.

"Of course, this was the time when Linda should have been made to work, as I was, all day and hard, with no time for silly dreaming except the few minutes before one went to sleep at night."

"Linda now proceeded to fritter away years of her youth, with nothing whatever to show for them.  If she had had an intellectual upbringing the place of all this pointless chatter, jokes and parties might have been taken by a serious interest in the arts, or by reading; if she had been happy in her marriage that side of her nature which craved for company could have found its fulfilment by the nursery fender; things being as they were, however, all was frippery and silliness."

I enjoyed the beginning of the book the most, when the girls were young and spending time together.  The second part of the book, dealing more with Linda's life after leaving home was less enjoyable.  However, the second part of the book takes place in the time leading up to World War II and part of Linda's time is spent in Paris.  It was interesting to get a glimpse of some of the attitudes in Paris and London at that time.  Overall, I am glad to have read this book.   

Quotes:

"Aunt Emily's little house was in a village; it was a Queen Anne box; red brick, white panelling, a magnolia tree and a delicious fresh smell."

"The Radlett children read enormously by fits and starts in the library at Alconleigh, a good representative nineteenth-century library, which had been made by their grandfather, a most cultivated man."