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

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Mitford never wrote a really good marriage (Fanny’s husband, in Pursuit and sequels, is the very definition of a nonentity), and it’s tempting to wonder whether she ever could.

She knows she doesn't want to marry 'a man who looks like a pudding', as her good and dull sister Louisa has done, and marries the flashy, handsome son of a UKIP peer instead.As crazy as things get, there are poignant moments scattered throughout which remind us that love is sometimes not what we imagined, but it can also come when we least expect it. Between Aunt Sadie’s hippy leanings and Uncle Matthew’s desire to shield his family from fame, the Radlett children are insulated from much of the modern world, home-schooled and banned from electronic devices. However, Jassie is a much more interesting character this time, about the only thing better in the book, even if she didn’t run away. Eventually Linda does find her way out from the bosom of her deeply eccentric extended family, and moves to London to become a model.

As well as Mitford, there is something of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s much-adored Cazalet Chronicles in here, plus elements of Eva Rice’s The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and Barbara Trapido’s Brother of the More Famous Jack. Even so, this is a gorgeously bittersweet portrait of growing up, where happiness is only ever fleeting. I think we can all relate to the struggles that Linda faces, as well as a loathe for the Christians and Tonys of the world. Husband number one, Tony Kroesig, has been perfectly refashioned as the son of a prominent right-winger.Exploring the modelling lifestyle in London and the cultural walks of Paris, this eccentric character captured my heart at every angle.