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

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Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. The characters are all completely recognisable even when they’ve actually been changed - Jassy, for example, is perfect as a modern version of the original. Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. 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. But I will stop listing them now, as you really need to read them in their wonderfully written rant mode to fully appreciate them!

I knew nothing about this book going into it, I didn’t even read a blurb, I just climbed right in and found my feet stuck in the muddy fields of Alconleigh with Fran as she observes her free spirited cousin, Linda, on her journey to find love. Even so, this is a gorgeously bittersweet portrait of growing up, where happiness is only ever fleeting. 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). I have done ever since I picked up a copy of Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison when I was 13 and would spend hours laughing over every sentence.

Her first venture into literature was 2000’s My Life on a Plate, charting a woman’s complicated family life which was more or less a fictionalised account of her own story. Treat yourself to this novel - Katherine Heiny, author of Early Morning Riser You may also be interested in. She knows she doesn't want to marry 'a man who looks like a pudding', as her good and dull sister Louisa has done, and marries the flashy, handsome son of a UKIP peer instead.

It was irreverent and refreshing, witty and erudite, very much in a similar vein to Bridget Jones’ Diary and other women’s fiction hits that came out around that time.It’s all an absolute hoot and Knight seems to be especially enjoying herself when it comes to Uncle Matthew, a man “of extreme and simple emotions” who weeps at the sight of particularly tragic old dogs and delights in trolling people on Instagram (“CLOSE YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SMILE”). However, Jassie is a much more interesting character this time, about the only thing better in the book, even if she didn’t run away. Darling is the story of her growing up: the people she meets; the men she falls in love with; and her friendship, enduring and eternal, with Frances.

This is a book full of lovely things: clothes and curtains and old Apple Mac computers in “boiled-sweet pink”. A razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud novel that re-imagines the cast of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. As crazy as things get, there are poignant moments scattered throughout which remind us that love is sometimes not what we imagined, but it can also come when we least expect it. But there’s no getting round it: being separated from your lover because they must open a new hotel in New Zealand is fundamentally less sexy than them leaving to fight the Nazis as a French resistance hero.The characters are all brilliantly written – with Uncle Matthew my favourite, with some amazing one liners – and lists of things he hates. Armed with a key and new knowledge about his parents' past, Nik sets out to unlock the secrets that his mother has been holding onto his whole life.

Linda’s strict, former rock star father terrifies any potential suitors away, while her bohemian mother, wafting around in silver jewellery, answers Linda’s urgent questions about love with upsettingly vivid allusions to animal husbandry. Some tweaks reflect contemporary sensibilities: sea swimming replaces hunting, and most of the characters have jobs: Linda runs a Dalston café, and her one true love, Fabrice, owns chic boutique hotels. Without a formal education Linda’s head is permanently in the clouds, but her natural curiosity and sharp mind means she has no qualms about her unconventional schooling, and absolutely no pretentions. Knight’s characters are sparky and fun, and in some cases their relationships are crafted with more care than in Mitford’s original.

Knight also takes a gleeful magnifying glass to the hypocrisies of modern life, from rigorous dieter Blanche going to restaurants solely for social media content, to Christian making Linda do all the housework, because paying a cleaner is “immoral”. A razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud novel that re-imagines the cast of Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love. updated; Uncle Matthew, for instance, is a retired pop star; Davey an interior designer; Merlin a fashion designer.

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