19 thoughts on “TBT: Love in a Cold Climate (2001)

  1. Nancy was a fascist too. In fact she was married to Sir Oswald Mosley the Blackshirt leader. Unity tried to kill herself when England went to war against her beloved Hitler. She survived permanently mentally impaired. Dispite their despicable politics the Mitford sisters are tremendously interesting. They created their own Hons CLB but I don’t know if they met in a linen closet.

    1. Nope. Diana was married to Mosley.

      Nancy was married to Peter Rodd for a bit, then had a French lover she hoped would marry her but never did.

    2. I’ve seen the new version, and Lily James is tremendous. Linda’s father is closer to the one in the book, unreasonable, hunting his children with hounds when he couldn’t find a fox (Lord Redesdale actually did that!) I love both versions, and I think they can coexist.

  2. One of my favorites!

    I’m really looking forward to the new one but it just looks so shiny. This one feels more real.

  3. Commenter from the UK here. I will only offer one comment on the latest “The Pursuit of Love”: Fanny gets excellent hats, Linda’s are terrible.

  4. I have a postcard from Jessica Mitford–typed and signed in red pencil–in response to the only fan letter I have ever written anyone. Her letters are wonderful; I once overheard my teen-aged daughter giggling at them.

  5. Loved it. Characters so wonderful but beside Fanny, I adored Cedric. And Lady Montdore was blind about his sexuality. Parts left me in stitches.

  6. Il love the 1980’s version, with Judi Dench as Aunt Sadie, Micheal Williams as uncle, Vivian Pickles as Lady Montdore and Jean-Pierre Cassel as Fabrice, the fabulous French lover. I do remember the production looked gorgeous

  7. I love everything about this series, the story, the acting, the costumes, the characters. I’ve seen the 80’s version, they really flesh out the story and follow the book more closely, and Aunt Sadie has more of a role (it was played by Dame Dench, so yeah) but prefer the 2001 incarnation. However, the 80’s version has a fabulous Carnivale themed party with a lagoon Lady Montdore set up in the ballroom.

  8. Is it me or is there a distinct shortage of decent men in Mitford’s writing? Not that the women are so great either. But then a lot of between wars writing seems to be about entertainingly dysfunctional people living from crisis to crisis. That certainly seems to have been the Mitford sisters milieu.

    1. Yes, but I’ve found that in most writing from the time. You have this overly abusive, toxic, overvalued masculinity and a corresponding total devaluing of feminity that was parodied in Cold Comfort Farm, this idea of “spare women” that were useless now there were no men to marry them. It was the context for fascism and nazism. I don’t know how it was in real life, but even people who don’t subscribe to those ideas at all like EM Delafield mostly have awful men in their books. I guess a lot of men (and some women) were deeply traumatised by war, too, which can’t have been good for relationships.

  9. ‘The Bolter’ was based on Lady Idina Sackville, queen of the Happy Valley set seen in ‘White Mischief’.

  10. This is the most accurately costumed adaptions of this story and i do adore it. Everything is superb and appropriate.

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