Darling: A razor-sharp, gloriously funny retelling of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love

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There is something discombobulating about characters you know being almost but not quite themselves.

There are good lovely things, owned by the creative bohemians (squashy sofas, dogs, “square-cut antique emerald cufflinks”), and bad lovely things, owned by the Ukip-voting parvenus (Hunter wellies) and the faux-commie Etonians (slim hardback novels). Irascible patriarch Uncle Matthew is a reformed rock star and his notorious Great War entrenching tool a bloodstained Brit award he used to brain a drummer while ‘high on pharmaceutical-grade cocaine’. Knight is a columnist for the Sunday Times Style, who has also written four other novels and some non-fiction books, along with a children’s book.

Eventually Linda does find her way out from the bosom of her deeply eccentric extended family, and moves to London to become a model.

Uncle Matthew’s list of hates now includes “anyone with any kind of special food regimen or intolerance whatsoever … imported mushrooms, salted caramel (‘not a flavour’) … skiing, racists … people whose arms he considered too long … ‘wellness’, the use of the word ‘cis’ to describe anyone who wasn’t one’s sister. Darling is a modern re-telling of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love, and anyone familiar with that book will recognise the clever updating of the people, places and societal nuances of the original. Read more about the condition Very Good: A book that has been read and does not look new, but is in excellent condition.

Trouble is, Linda’s lived a very sheltered life and tends to see the best in people, even when people aren’t being their best. Darling, it must be said, is all the better for Matthew and Sadie’s delight in one another: it makes the characters make sense. Husband two, anti-capitalist Christian (nicknamed “posh Trot” by Uncle Matthew), meanwhile, is an Old Etonian who puts about a myth that he grew up on a housing estate in Doncaster.

Uncle Matthew is now a retired rock-star who wants to protect his children from the tabloids; Lord Merlin, the effete neighbour in Mitford’s original, becomes fashion wunderkind Merlin Berners (a nod to Lord Berners, who inspired the character); Davey, obsessed with his health, fits seamlessly into the modern world: “‘I have a lot of time for the late Dr Mayr’s method. The Pursuit of Love has been a favourite of mine for years and this re-telling is lovely, unlike the horrible television adaptation a couple of years ago. But I will stop listing them now, as you really need to read them in their wonderfully written rant mode to fully appreciate them! Delight the bookworm in your life with the gift of this hilarious and heartbreaking modern-day adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s classic, The Pursuit of Happiness. Linda's strict, former rock star father terrifies any potential suitors away, while her bohemian mother, wafting around in silver jewellery, answers Linda's urgent questions about love with upsettingly vivid allusions to animal husbandry.Louisa, for example, the doughty oldest daughter, still marries a Scottish peer, but in Knight’s version she becomes an Instagram influencer: “‘I take pictures of the house and the children and of me, looking all golden with the light streaming in, and then I get tons of followers who love me, and then people give me things. Public service announcement for fellow Nancy Mitford fans: India Knight’s modern retelling, Darling, is HEAVEN. For younger bookworms – and nostalgic older ones too – there’s the Slightly Foxed Cubs series, in which we’ve reissued a number of classic nature and historical novels. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. For a reader unfamiliar with Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love, India Knight’s reimagining would be a perfect comfort read: the kind of book you take into the bath and keep reading even when the water has gone cold, a one-sitting dark-at-four joy.

The characters are all brilliantly written – with Uncle Matthew my favourite, with some amazing one liners – and lists of things he hates. In one memorable exchange, the youngest sister Jassy leads: “‘Do you know, ducks have actual penises.Knight’s characters are sparky and fun, and in some cases their relationships are crafted with more care than in Mitford’s original. Okay readers, don’t judge me, we’ve all done it, but I requested this book solely on the basis of loving that simply gorgeous front cover.