Darling: A razor-sharp, gloriously funny retelling of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love

Product Information

Tony is still a very dull banker, Christian is a poet and Fabrice owns a few boutique hotels in Paris. To do the book justice, it's nicely written and zips along at a fine pace, which it what you'd expect from such an insubstantial piece of fluff. As the hours count down to their wedding, Piglet is torn between a growing appetite and the desire to follow the recipe, follow the rules. The Pursuit of Love has scarcely been out of print since initial publication, and is not yet out of copyright. I am at a loss therefore, especially as the modernisation of Shakespeare’s plays as books didn’t do too well.

Inevitably, Linda eventually rebels against her sheltered childhood, running away to London to be a model and then jumping into a duo of ill-fated marriages, which is Knight’s cue to skewer certain quarters of the British ruling class. Delight the bookworm in your life with the gift of this hilarious and heartbreaking modern-day adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s classic, The Pursuit of Happiness. The original novel centres on the life and loves of the beautiful Linda Radlett and her unconventional upbringing with her siblings and cousin Fanny (the book’s narrator) in the Cotswolds manor of Alconleigh. Her story is told by Fran, the cousin who had been sent to grow up with the Radletts when it became clear that her care-free mother couldn’t give her the stable childhood she needed. The book is narrated by Frances, a cousin of the Radlett siblings, who has been sent to live with her Aunt Sadie and Uncle Matthew by her flaky mother.Knight makes Linda’s third love affair, with French hotel tycoon Fabrice El Hassane, dizzyingly romantic. In a place she had determined to forget forever, both anticipated encounters and unanticipated revelations show her, and us, that sometimes life is neither fate nor chance: perhaps it’s nothing more than a little luck. Also, any book that manages to make me laugh out loud (or snort) multiple times, has a special place in my heart.

Like most clever people, I’m not over-fussed about clothing; there have been numerous studies showing that successful types – unless they’re in entertainment, showbiz or fashion itself, obvs – tend to wear the same thing every day. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. The neighborhood looks different too, but she’s still the same woman and it’s still the same place, and as the past erupts into view, they slowly collide.To become a subscriber to Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly Magazine, please visit our subscriptions page. But this is only the beginning of Linda’s pursuit of love, a journey that will be wilder, more surprising and more complicated than she could ever have imagined. In one memorable exchange, the youngest sister Jassy leads: “‘Do you know, ducks have actual penises. The Things That We Lost is a beautifully tender exploration of family, loss and how far we will go to protect the ones we love.

I came across at least three sentences which made me stumble, because there are mistakes in them which should have been sorted out.In her journalism Knight has written often about the importance of cosiness, and here she has the perfect cosy autumn read. Uncle Matthew is now a retired rock-star who wants to protect his children from the tabloids; Lord Merlin, the effete neighbour in Mitford’s original, becomes fashion wunderkind Merlin Berners (a nod to Lord Berners, who inspired the character); Davey, obsessed with his health, fits seamlessly into the modern world: “‘I have a lot of time for the late Dr Mayr’s method.

She was awarded an exhibition to Trinity College, Cambridge, where she read Modern Languages from 1984-1987, before starting her career in journalism. Franny, the narrator, is even less inconsequential than in the original; but Knight has so, so much fun with Uncle Matthew, Davey and Jassy, who were always the best characters anyway. Knight manages to be faithful to that beloved comfort read whilst updating the setting and characters to the present (albeit still in a bohemian-aristo thoroughly English way).Linda’s daughter Moira (deathlessly described by Mitford as a ‘howling orange in a fine black wig’) is gaily abandoned in the original; here she remains a beloved, if semi-detached, family member.