I have to admit a few things: I bought this because of the cover; I was a bit confused about the plot; and I hadn’t read or even heard of the original novel this is based on.

So, the cover. My word of 2024 was delight. This fits the bill one hundred percent.

And then the plot. I couldn’t quite connect the dots on how we came to the end. The original, The Pursuit of Love, has a title that makes more sense of the plot. Whilst Darling refers to the object of the narrator’s affections, The Pursuit of Love addresses more the action of the main characters.

I wasn’t super excited about the book until I found The Pursuit of Love on Amazon Prime (a three part mini series). And voilá! The themes and characters and plot line of the original novel became evident. Darling is the modern day interpretation of the mid-1930’s setting based loosely on the life of the original author, Nancy Mitford – a coming of age story of two cousins with an unusual upbringing in the English countryside.

I highly recommend the series on Amazon and now I can fully appreciate Darling. I’ll be angling to get the Book Chicks to read The Pursuit of Love for our classic pick. You decide if you read the original first, watch the movie adaptation, or start in modern days. By all and any means, do pursue.