The book choice for January 2013 is Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford. Love in a Cold Climate focuses on the love life of young heiress Polly Hampton, a friend and neighbor of the Radletts.
Love in a Cold Climate is a sparkling romantic comedy that vividly evokes the lost glamour of aristocratic life in England between the wars. The novel follows the story of Polly Hampton, a beautiful and aloof young woman who is groomed by her ambitious mother for the perfect marriage. But Polly has other ideas, and she is determined to find love on her own terms.
The novel opens with Polly returning to England after a long stay in India. She is immediately thrust into the social whirl of London, where she is pursued by a number of eligible suitors. However, Polly is not interested in any of them. She is more interested in her friend Fanny Logan, a witty and independent young woman who is not afraid to speak her mind.
Polly’s mother, Lady Montdore, is determined to marry Polly off to a wealthy and titled husband. She is particularly keen on Lord Merlin, a handsome and charming young man who is heir to a dukedom. However, Polly is not interested in Lord Merlin either. She finds him to be shallow and superficial.
One day, Polly meets Boy Mulcaster, a handsome but mysterious young man. Boy is a social outcast, and he is not well-liked by Polly’s mother. However, Polly is drawn to Boy, and they soon begin a secret affair.
Polly’s mother is furious when she finds out about the affair. She forbids Polly to see Boy again, and she threatens to disinherit her if she does not break off the relationship. Polly is devastated, but she refuses to give up Boy.
Discussion Questions
- Why did Mitford make Fanny the narrator despite the fact that so little of the action takes place around her?
- Are there any male characters who are portrayed in a positive light?
- Has anyone read the other book The Pursuit of Happiness – do they contrast?
- What are Polly’s true motivations through the novel?
- Is Cedric a force of good or evil?
- Would the same book written now be able to be light-hearted or would it inevitably be sinister?
- Over the course of the novel, Fanny travels back and forth between Hampton, home of the Montdores, and Alconleigh, home of the Radletts. How does her experience in the two homes compare? How does the Radlett family serve as a counterpoint to the Montdores
- Why is Fanny’s own romance and marriage reported with few details and little fanfare? How do her attitudes, her choices and her behaviour serve as points of contrast to other characters in the novel?
- From Boy Dougdale, “the Lecherous Lecturer,” to the flamboyantly homosexual Cedric, sex and sexuality are constant undercurrents in the novel. What do you think Nancy Mitford thought of her society’s attitudes toward sexuality?
- Is Love in a Cold Climate a good title for the novel?
- Satire gets its bite from the exaggeration of characters’ attributes and actions. Which characters in Love in a Cold Climate are the most exaggerated? Which scenes are the most humourous? How does Mitford use humour and exaggeration to critique the British aristocracy?
- Is Mitford’s critique a serious one or is humour her primary goal? In what way does your answer reflect how history will observe the novel?
- Fanny says Lord Montdore is a perfect “type…he might just as well have been made of cardboard.” Lady Montdore, for all her faults, interests her more: she “was flesh and blood all right.” Evaluate Mitford’s characters as Fanny judged the Montdores. Are her characters “cardboard” or “flesh and blood”?
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