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Make a loved one smile with this classic Christmas read - a perfect
stocking filler! 'Christmas Day was organized by Lady Bobbin with
the thoroughness and attention to detail of a general leading his
army into battle . . .' The formidable fox-hunter Lady Bobbin is
holding a Christmas house party. Attendees include her rebellious
daughter Philadelphia, a pompous suitor, a couple of children
poring over newspaper death notices, and a dejected writer whose
first serious novel has been declared the funniest book of the
year. Add to the mix beautiful ex-courtesan Amabelle Fortescue and
her guests staying in a neighbouring cottage and you have a ribald
tale of true love and false fidelity, hijinks and low morals, not
to mention the consumption of a considerable quantity of Christmas
spirit. 'Utter, utter bliss' Daily Mail 'A dazzling comic delight'
The Times 'Very funny, irresistible' Spectator
'A masterpiece ... The Pursuit of Love is one of the funniest books
ever written' India Knight, The Times Nancy Mitford's brilliantly
witty, irreverent stories of the upper classes in pre-war London
and Paris conjure up a world of glamour, gossip and decadence. In
The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate and The Blessing, her
extraordinary heroines deal with armies of eccentric relatives, the
excitement of love and passion, and the thrills of the social
Season. But beneath the perfectly timed comic dialogue, these
novels are also bittersweet reminders of the brevity of life and
love. With an Introduction by Philip Hensher 'A kind of perfection'
Olivia Laing, Guardian 'Peerless ... beneath the surface of
Mitford's wit, there is something infinitely more melancholy at
work' Zoe Heller
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The Sun King (Paperback)
Nancy Mitford; Introduction by Philip Mansel
bundle available
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R438
R366
Discovery Miles 3 660
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"The Sun King" is a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV and
Versailles, the opulent court from which he ruled. With
characteristic elan, Nancy Mitford reconstructs the daily life of
king and courtiers during France's golden age, offering vivid
sketches of the architects, artists, and gardeners responsible for
the creation of the most magnificent palace Europe had yet seen.
Mitford lays bare the complex and deadly intrigues in the stateroom
and the no less high-stakes power struggles in the bedroom. At the
center of it all is Louis XIV himself, the demanding, mercurial,
but remarkably resilient sovereign who guided France through nearly
three quarters of the Grand Siecle.
Brimming with sumptuous detail and delicious bons mots, and written
in a witty, conversational style, "The Sun King" restores a distant
glittering century to vibrant life.
Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of
English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new
illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition
also includes instructions to access supporting material online.
Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and
thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to
bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of
Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference
for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader
help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key
exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test
readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. The Pursuit of
Love, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is
made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present
perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second
conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear
regularly. The Pursuit of Love is about the love adventures of
Fanny Logan's cousin, Linda Radlett, who is beautiful, brave and
fun. Linda finally finds love and seems happy, but this is the
1930s and her country will soon go to war with Germany. What will
happen to Linda then? Visit the Penguin Readers website Exclusively
with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources
including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer
keys.
Love in a Cold Climate is the wickedly funny sequel to Nancy
Mitford's The Pursuit of Love which is now a major BBC series and
Prime Video series directed by Emily Mortimer starring Lily James,
Andrew Scott and Dominic West 'How lovely - green velvet and
silver. I call that a dream, so soft and delicious, too.' She
rubbed a fold of the skirt against her cheek. 'Mine's silver lame,
it smells like a bird cage when it gets hot but I do love it.
Aren't you thankful evening skirts are long again?' Ah, the
dresses! But oh, the monotony of the Season, with its endless run
of glittering balls. Even fabulously fashionable Polly Hampton -
with her startling good looks and excellent social connections - is
beginning to wilt under the glare. Groomed for the perfect marriage
by her mother, fearsome Lady Montdore, Polly instead scandalises
society by declaring her love for her uncle 'Boy' Dougdale, the
Lecherous Lecturer, and promptly eloping to France. But the
consequences of this union no one could quite expect . . . NANCY
MITFORD'S WICKEDLY FUNNY SERIES CONTINUES IN DON'T TELL ALFRED.
***** 'Peerless' Zoe Heller 'Entirely original, inimitable and
irresistible' Philip Hensher, Spectator 'A comic genius'
Independent on Sunday
One of the funniest, sharpest novels about love and growing up ever
written, Nancy Mitford's classic is now a major BBC and Prime Video
series directed by Emily Mortimer and starring Lily James, Andrew
Scott and Dominic West 'He was the great love of her life you
know.' 'Oh, dulling,' said my mother, sadly, 'One always thinks
that. Every, every time.' Oh, the tedium of waiting to grow up!
Longing for love, obsessed with weddings and sex, Linda and her
sisters and cousin Fanny are on the lookout for the perfect lover.
But finding Mr Right is much harder than any of the sisters had
thought. Linda must suffer marriage first to a stuffy Tory MP and
then to a handsome and humourless communist, before finding real
love in war-torn Paris . . . NANCY MITFORD'S WICKEDLY FUNNY SERIES
CONTINUES IN LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE AND DON'T TELL ALFRED. *****
'Utter, utter bliss' Daily Mail 'A pleasure as intense as
inheriting a perfect pearl necklace, or finding a silk dress in a
vintage shop that fits like a glove' Caitlin Moran, Harper's Bazaar
'Peerless' Zoe Heller
Don't Tell Alfred is the wickedly funny sequel to Nancy Mitford's
The Pursuit of Love, which is now a major BBC series and Prime
Video series directed by Emily Mortimer starring Lily James, Andrew
Scott and Dominic West, and Love in a Cold Climate 'I believe it
would have been normal for me to have paid a visit to the outgoing
ambassadress. However the said ambassadress had set up such an
uninhibited wail when she knew she was to leave, proclaiming her
misery to all and sundry and refusing so furiously to look on the
bright side, that it was felt she might not be very nice to me.'
Fanny is married to absent-minded Oxford don Alfred and content
with her role as a plain, tweedy housewife. But overnight her life
changes when Alfred is appointed English Ambassador to Paris. In
the blink of an eye, Fanny's mixing with royalty, Rothschilds and
Dior-clad wives, throwing cocktail parties and having every
indiscreet remark printed in tomorrow's papers. But with the love
lives of her new friends to organize, an aristocratic squatter who
won't budge and the antics of her maverick sons to thwart, Fanny's
far too busy to worry about the diplomatic crisis looming on the
horizon . . . ***** 'Peerless' Zoe Heller 'A comic genius'
Independent on Sunday 'Deliciously funny' Evelyn Waugh
"Christmas Pudding "and "Pigeon Pie "are two sparkling comedies
from early in the career of Nancy Mitford, beloved author of "The
Pursuit of Love "and "Love in a Cold Climate, "here published in
one volume with a new introduction by Jane Smiley.
In "Christmas Pudding," an array of colorful characters converge on
the hunt-obsessed Lady Bobbin's country house, including her
rebellious daughter Philadelphia, the girl's pompous suitor, a
couple of children obsessed with newspaper death notices, and an
aspiring writer whose serious first novel has been acclaimed as the
funniest book of the year, to his utter dismay. In "Pigeon Pie,"
set at the outbreak of World War II, Lady Sophia Garfield dreams of
becoming a beautiful spy but manages not to notice a nest of German
agents right under her nose, until the murder of her maid and
kidnapping of her beloved bulldog force them on her attention, with
heroic results. Delivered with a touch lighter than that of
Mitford's later masterpieces but no less entertaining, these
comedies combine glamour, wit, and fiendishly absurd plots into
irresistible literary confections.
Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh were two of the twentieth century's
most amusing and gifted writers, who matched wits and traded
literary advice in more than five hundred letters over twenty-two
years. Dissecting their friends, criticizing each other's books and
concealing their true feelings beneath a barrage of hilarious and
knowing repartee, they found it far easier to conduct a friendship
on paper than in person. This correspondence provides a colourful
glimpse into the literary and social circles of London and Paris,
during the Second World War and for twenty years after.
Nancy Mitford's most controversial novel, unavailable for decades,
is a hilarious satirical send-up of the political enthusiasms of
her notorious sisters, Unity and Diana.
Written in 1934, early in Hitler's rise, "Wigs on the Green
"lightheartedly skewers the devoted followers of British fascism.
The sheltered and unworldy Eugenia Malmain is one of the richest
girls in England and an ardent supporter of General Jack and his
Union Jackshirts. World-weary Noel Foster and his scheming friend
Jasper Aspect are in search of wealthy heiresses to marry; Lady
Marjorie, disguised as a commoner, is on the run from the Duke she
has just jilted at the altar; and her friend Poppy is considering
whether to divorce her rich husband. When these characters converge
with the colorful locals at a grandly misconceived costume pageant
that turns into a brawl between Pacifists and Jackshirts, madcap
farce ensues. Long suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to
family feelings, "Wigs on the Green "can now be enjoyed by fans of
Mitford's superbly comic novels.
One of Mitford's most enduringly popular works, "The Pursuit of
Love" is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love
among the privileged and eccentric. This edition includes an
Introduction by the author of "The Believers" and "What Was She
Thinking? Notes on a Scandal."
Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford is a hilarious satire of the
upper classes. Eugenia Malmains is one of the richest girls in
England and an ardent supporter of Captain Jack and the Union
Jackshirts; Noel and Jasper are both in search of an heiress (so
much easier than trying to work for the money); Poppy and Marjorie
are nursing lovelorn hearts; and the beautiful bourgeois Mrs Lace
is on the prowl for someone near Eugenia's fabulous country home at
Chalford, and much farce ensues. One of Nancy Mitford's earliest
novels, Wigs on the Green has been out of print for nearly
seventy-five years. Nancy's sisters Unity and Diana were furious
with her for making fun of Diana's husband, Oswald Moseley, and his
politics, and the book caused a rift between them all that endured
for years. Nancy Mitford skewers her family and their beliefs with
her customary jewelled barbs, but there is froth, comedy and heart
here too. 'Deliciously funny' Evelyn Waugh
Nancy Mitford modelled the characters in her best-known novels on
her own unconventional (and at the time of writing, notorious)
family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their
cousin, Fanny ('the Bolter's girl'), on one of her frequent visits
to their country estate: Uncle Matthew the blustering patriarch,
owner of that bloodied entrenching tool above the fireplace, who
hunts his children with bloodhounds; vague Aunt Sadie, and six
children recklessly eager to grow up. The Pursuit of Love is the
story of Linda, the most beautiful and wayward of the Radlett
daughters, who falls first for a stuffy Tory politician, then an
ardent Communist (whom she follows to the Spanish Civil War), and
finally a very wicked and irresistibly charming French duke. Love
in a Cold Climate, again related by Fanny, focuses on Polly
Hampton, long groomed for the perfect marriage by her fearsome
mother, Lady Montdore, but secretly determined to pursue her own
course.
One of the funniest, sharpest novels about love and growing up ever
written, Nancy Mitford's classic is now a major BBC and Prime Video
series directed by Emily Mortimer and starring Lily James, Andrew
Scott and Dominic West 'He was the great love of her life you
know.' 'Oh, dulling,' said my mother, sadly, 'One always thinks
that. Every, every time.' Oh, the tedium of waiting to grow up!
Longing for love, obsessed with weddings and sex, Linda and her
sisters and cousin Fanny are on the lookout for the perfect lover.
But finding Mr Right is much harder than any of the sisters had
thought. Linda must suffer marriage first to a stuffy Tory MP and
then to a handsome and humourless communist, before finding real
love in war-torn Paris . . . NANCY MITFORD'S WICKEDLY FUNNY SERIES
CONTINUES IN LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE AND DON'T TELL ALFRED. *****
'Utter, utter bliss' Daily Mail 'A pleasure as intense as
inheriting a perfect pearl necklace, or finding a silk dress in a
vintage shop that fits like a glove' Caitlin Moran, Harper's Bazaar
'Peerless' Zoe Heller
Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love is one of the funniest,
sharpest novels about love and growing up ever written. 'He was the
great love of her life you know.' 'Oh, dulling,' said my mother,
sadly, 'One always thinks that. Every, every time.' Longing for
love, obsessed with weddings and let's not even mention the
mysteries of sex, Linda and her sisters and cousin Fanny are on the
hunt for the ideal lover. But finding the perfect match is much
harder than any of the sisters had ever dreamed. Linda is first
courted by a Tory MP and then becomes embroiled with a handsome but
humourless communist, before she risks everything on a chance at
real, head-over-heels love in war-torn Paris . . . 'Peerless' Zoe
Heller
'Always be civil to the girls. You never know whom they might
marry.' Nancy Mitford, from her introduction to The Princess de
Cleves When the young, beautiful Mademoiselle de Chartres comes to
court, her primary objective is to find herself a husband. Upon her
mother's recommendation, she accepts the advances of the Prince de
Cleves, a rather average sort of a man. Unfortunately, soon after
the wedding she finds herself to be in love with the dashing Duc de
Nemours . . . Against a backdrop of labyrinthine court politics,
the naive Madame de Cleves' pursuit of true love is a riveting and
timelessly tragic read.
The Love And Marriage Of A Beautiful Englishwoman And A Glamorous
French Marquis.
The Love And Marriage Of A Beautiful Englishwoman And A Glamorous
French Marquis.
The Penguin Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford. Here in one volume
are all eight of Nancy Mitford's sparklingly astute, hilarious and
completely unputdownable novels: Highland Fling, Christmas Pudding,
Wigs on the Green, Pigeon Pie, The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold
Climate, The Blessing and Don't Tell Alfred. Published over a
period of 30 years, they provide a wonderful glimpse of the bright
young things of the thirties, forties, fifties and sixties in the
city and in the shires; firmly ensconced at home or making a go of
it abroad; and what the upper classes really got up to in peace and
in war. 'Entirely original, inimitable and irresistible' Spectator
'Deliciously funny' Evelyn Waugh 'Utter, utter bliss' Daily Mail
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The Blessing (Paperback)
Nancy Mitford; Introduction by Alex Kapranos
bundle available
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R296
R240
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The Blessing by Nancy Mitford It isn't just Nanny who finds it
difficult in France when Grace and her young son Sigi are finally
able to join her dashing aristocratic husband Charles-Edouard after
the war. For Grace is out of her depth among the fashionably
dressed and immaculately coiffured French women, and shocked by
their relentless gossiping and bedhopping. When she discovers her
husband's tendency to lust after every pretty girl he sees, it
looks like trouble. And things get even more complicated when
little Sigi steps in . . . The Blessing is a hilarious tale of
love, fidelity, and the English abroad, tailored as brilliantly as
a New Look Dior suit. 'Entirely original, inimitable and
irresistible' Spectator 'Deliciously funny' Evelyn Waugh 'Utter,
utter bliss' Daily Mail
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The Sun King (Paperback)
Nancy Mitford; Introduction by Stella Tillyard
bundle available
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R325
R263
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This gossipy account of Louis XIV is a clear and fascinating
historical biography from Nancy Mitford. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
STELLA TILLYARD During his reign Louis XIV was the most powerful
king in Europe. He presided over a golden age of military and
artistic achievement in France, and deployed his charm and talents
for spin and intrigue to hold his court and country within his
absolute control. The Sun King's universe centred on Versailles, a
glittering palace from where Louis conducted his government and
complex love affairs. Nancy Mitford describes the daily life of
this splendid court in sumptuous detail, recreating the past in
vivid colour.
When Madame de Pompadour became the mistress of Louis XV, no one
expected her to retain his affections for long. A member of the
bourgeoisie rather than an aristocrat, she was physically too cold
for the carnal Bourbon king, and had so many enemies that she could
not travel publicly without risking a pelting of mud and stones.
History has loved her little better.Nancy Mitford's delightfully
candid biography re-creates the spirit of eighteenth-century
Versailles with its love of pleasure and treachery. We learn that
the Queen was a "bore," the Dauphin a "prig," and see France
increasingly overcome with class conflict. With a fiction writer's
felicity, Mitford restores the royal mistress and celebrates her as
a survivor, unsurpassed in "the art of living," who reigned as the
most powerful woman in France for nearly twenty years.
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