A masterpiece The Pursuit of Love is one of the funniest books ever written India Knight The TimesNancy Mitfords brilliantly witty irreverent stories of the upper classes in prewar 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 loveWith an Introduction by Philip HensherA kind of perfection Olivia Laing GuardianPeerless beneath the surface of Mitfords wit there is something infinitely more melancholy at work Zoe Heller