The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

By Bright Summaries

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Pursuit of Love with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, a humorous novel that recounts the romantic misadventures of a young woman named Linda Radlett, as told from the perspective of her cousin Fanny. Linda spends most of her idle youth longing for her true love to come and sweep her off her feet, which leads her to embark on a series of romantic relationships later in life, marrying multiple times and even running away with a lover, leading Fanny to question how authentic love can ever be. The Pursuit of Love is the first novel in Nancy Mitford’s acclaimed trilogy about the exploits of Fanny and her cousins, and established her as one of the most significant female writers of the early 20th century.

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This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:

• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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• Language: English
• Publisher: BrightSummaries.com
• Release date: Apr 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9782808017589

Book preview

ENGLISH NOVELIST

Born in London in 1904.

Died in Paris in 1973.

Notable works:

Love in A Cold Climate (1949), novel

The Blessing (1951), novel

Don’t Tell Alfred (1960), novel

Born in 1904, Nancy Mitford was a glittering socialite whose life spanned the First and Second World Wars. One of six sisters, Mitford closely integrated her family life into her fiction. Although her pre-war novels, published in the 1930s, made little impression on the public, her later work caught the attention of the society it captured. Sharp, witty, and clever, Mitford’s novels sketched the landed gentry with affection and nostalgia.

After Mitford’s infatuation with the homosexual Hamish Erskine, she married Peter Rodd in 1933. Their marriage only lasted five years, and after its demise Mitford met and fell in love with Gaston Palewski. Inspired, Mitford published The Pursuit of Love in 1945, and subsequently moved to Paris in 1946. Mitford wrote Love in a Cold Climate, a sequel to The Pursuit of Love, in 1949, which received warm acclaim, and Don’t Tell Alfred, a continuation of the series, in 1960. Mitford later became a columnist for The Times and wrote historical biographies of Madame de Pompadour (mistress to the French king Louis XV, 1721-1764) and Louis XIV (French king, 1638-1715) before illness overtook her. She died from Hodgkin’s disease in 1973.

A ROMANTIC SOCIAL COMEDY

Genre: novel

Reference edition: Mitford, N. (2010) The Pursuit