Book Review: The Pursuit of Love

Always either on a peak of happiness or drowning in the black waters of despair, they loved and they loathed, they lived in a world of superlatives

Ahh Love! Who been stung by it? (If you haven’t, you haven’t lived). When it’s great, it’s great and sometimes its not so great and can leave you feeling empty and sad. When you’re young love is a great idea, one of life’s pursuits that must be filled, for what is life without love? 

Let’s turn our attention to this ‘The Pursuit of Love’ by Nancy Mitford, I haven’t read a book so quickly as I have this one. I devoured it! Which, is probably more accurate. The story focuses on the Radlett children in the years between the First and Second World Wars, these children are rambunctious, silly and all mad about the idea of love. Particular focus is given to the character of Linda, and it’s her story we follow throughout the book. Linda, is probably the silliest and the most naive about love, she, like all other daughters of the landed gentry have ‘coming out’ balls in order to meet suitors. Linda’s is a strange floaty mess, she is arguably the most beautiful of the Radlett children so anything and everything she wears makes her glow.

Unfortunately, due to her penchant for dreaming she believes that she is in love with the first man she meets ‘Tony’. Long story short, it doesn’t end well, he turns out to be an utter bore, poor Linda. She is outgoing, enjoys parties, hates the ‘abroad’ and above all chatting about nothing in particular. He is a stiff upper lipped Conservative MP who really likes the Germans. I know they ‘say’ opposites attract but in this case they clash - bit like a train wreck. In the end they divorce, and its messy. She has a daughter called Moira - a name she hates and a child she doesn’t care for. Its later revealed that she chose not to care for Moira incase she became too attached and then she’d never leave Tony. I mean she has a point Tony is… well he as about as much personality as an empty bucket. But rather horrible to not care for your own child, I think.

The next man who walks into Linda’s life is Christian. Christian is, well, a communist, big time. Like, he loves Russia. Not in the satirical George Orwell kinda way, but the ‘I-think-Stalin-is-the-best-thing-to-happen-since-sliced-bread’ kinda way. You know? He meets her through a mutual friend, he is young, handsome, exciting. Basically everything Tony isn’t. So no wonder she ran off with him. However, Linda is a Conservative and with Christian being a Communist, ideologies would clash. Or so you think. Turns out Linda is a bit of a sponge and will believe anything you tell her, she likes people who chat and are social. Just not socialist. Ha ha! The thing is, when war starts in Spain, Christian naturally runs immediately to help in the fight against the fascists. Now, if you know your history then you know it goes pretty badly for the socialists. In fact they lose. The refugees then spill into France and the French? Well they did the same things as Trump. They put them in cages. Christian and now Linda work meticulously hard to get the refugees out of France and into America. All the while Christian is falling in love with another woman. In the end Linda didn’t seem to mind and decided to leave for home at once. Naturally, it being Linda, that too was fraught with disaster.

Fabrice, now this guy is suave, he knows how to wine and dine a girl. He is basically like a sugar daddy of the 1940’s. Linda first meets him after she has run away from Christian, she has traveled long and hard up from Spain where the war against Franco is still raging. Small problem her ticket has expired and she can’t exchange it for another one. So she is stuck! Yet in the midst of her misery she meets Fabrice. And my! What a find is Fabrice. He gives her a lavish apartment and showers her in clothes and jewels. The more she buys, the happier Fabrice seems to get. Fabrics seems perfect for the dim Linda. They seem a perfect match. But then comes the call. The dreadful day Linda knew about but never dreamed would come: Fabrice must leave Paris to help the resistance and, for her own safety, so must she. Back in England she waits for him, day and night she waits for anything and for a long while she doesn’t hear a thing. But one day he turns up. And all is well. Until it isn’t. The blitz has begun in London and with her little house bombed and Linda now ‘in the family way’ she must return to Alconleigh.

However, in the closing chapters of the book, she sits and waits for him to come to her and envisions the life they’ll have together. It was concluded that Fabrice is the greatest love of her life, but I’ll let you, dear reader, decide for yourself if that is true or not.