Reviews

Of the 3 Nancy Mitford novels I’ve read thus far, this one was a little less satisfying. Fanny Wincham’s life gets into the fast lane when her beloved husband Alfred, an Oxford professor of theology, is appointed the British Ambassador in Paris. The wife of the previous Ambassador (Lady Leone) is none too pleased at having to vacate the kind of life to which she had become accustomed and enjoyed for the previous 5 years. She stages a sit/lay-in at the official residence, where her numerous friends pay her homage for several weeks. In desperation, Fanny enlists the help of a family relation, who devises an ingenious way of inducing Lady Leone to take her leave of France in a face-saving, dignified way.

There are other colorful characters in this novel (2 of whom, Charles-Edouard de Valhubert and his English wife Grace, we last saw occupy center stage in “The Blessing”) who provide its rich and comedic flavor. I think the reader will be entertained reading about the antics and idiosyncrasies of Fanny’s social secretary Northey, and 2 of her sons, Basil and David. And there is also her Uncle Matthew, a very entertaining eccentric. Notwithstanding all that, I didn’t enjoy reading “Don’t Tell Alfred” as much as I did “The Blessing.” This review is not to suggest that the former is not a good book. I’m glad I read it and feel that, perhaps, upon a second reading, I may upgrade my present appraisal.

_bookishbella's review against another edition

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3.0

Definitely not as good as Love In A Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love. Fanny as a narrator seems like a different person, and lots has passed between the events of this book and the events of the previous that make it a bit confusing at the beginning. The characters aren’t as colourful and exciting as in previous books, and there’s a lot of political talk about relations between France, England, and America that didn’t really interest me (or Fanny, I reckon!) so they kind of went over my head when I skimmed them. Still enjoyable and easy to read, and nice to be set in France while I’m on holiday here, but definitely not as good as I was expecting and a slightly disappointing end to the series!

lucyturnsthepage's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed this book because I liked Fanny from the first two however the characters introduced didn’t manage to capture my attention and I found myself longing for more of the Radletts. Still it was a fun read and interesting to see how Mitford imagined the lives of the characters introduced in The Pursuit of Love progressing.

garbo2garbo's review against another edition

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4.0

To have Fanny at the center, rather than as the narrator, was fantastic! Poor Fanny, dealing with scandal after scandal, and the misadventures of her children - yet it was very entertaining for me!

One note, This book should be read after Pursuit of Love, Love In A Cold Climate, and The Blessing, because Mitford expects you to know a lot of characters and their/their family's histories. I can imagine that there would be confusion if the reader hadn't read the previous books first.

littlenyssa's review against another edition

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5.0

Perhaps not as wonderful as Love in a Cold Climate, but still great.

aemsea26's review against another edition

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This is probably my least favorite Nancy Mitford which surprised me because it has Paris, Fanny, and diplomacy. I didn't love it but I still liked it very much. I loved seeing Sigi grown up and charming and I'm going to tell people to stop being so feeble.

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