What’s it about?
Love in a Cold Climate is ostensibly about a young woman who falls in love with the wrong man and lives to regret it. Really, it’s about ogling the upper classes and their love affairs in Interwar Britain. Nancy Mitford was of the upper class, one of the famous Mitford sisters; many people read her books to learn more about them. The houses are lovely, the people are scheming and beautiful and witty.
Why should you read it?
Because Nancy Mitford is, in fact, a good writer. Forget learning about her life growing up, revel in Polly’s idiocy in her choice of husband. Or in Lady Montdore’s grasping of a new image. Or at Cedric’s flamboyance. This book is funny, if a bit slow-moving by modern standards. If you like P.G. Wodehouse, this might be for you.