''The Pursuit of Love'' is a novel by
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London ...
, first published in 1945. It is the first in a trilogy about an upper-class English family in the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...
focusing on the romantic life of Linda Radlett, as narrated by her cousin, Fanny Logan. Although a comedy, the story has tragic overtones.
The book was an immediate best-seller and sold 200,000 copies within a year of publication.
Mitford wrote two sequels to the novel, ''
Love in a Cold Climate
''Love in a Cold Climate'' is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1949. The title is a phrase from George Orwell's novel '' Keep the Aspidistra Flying'' (1936).
''Love in a Cold Climate'' is a companion volume to '' The Pursuit of L ...
'' (1949) and ''
Don't Tell Alfred
''Don't Tell Alfred'' is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1960 by Hamish Hamilton. It is the third in a trilogy centred on an upper-class English family, and takes place twenty years after the events of '' The Pursuit of Love'' and '' ...
'' (1960). Her penultimate novel, ''
The Blessing'' (1951), also makes references to ''The Pursuit of Love'' and characters from ''The Blessing'' later appear in ''Don't Tell Alfred''.
Plot summary
The narrator is Fanny, whose mother (called the "Bolter" for her habit of serial monogamy) and father have left her to be brought up by her aunt Emily and the