REVIEW: Christmas Pudding (Nancy Mitford)

Book: Christmas Pudding
Author: Nancy Mitford

My rating: 4.5/5

Premise: An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease may have terminated the hunting at the Compton Bobbins' in the Cotswolds, but it has not dampened the Yuletide spirit of the Bright Young Things who find themselves among the oddly assorted guests of the not-so young and quite formidable Lady Maria Bobbin. Hilarious misadventures abound as Lady Bobbin's serenely beautiful daughter, Philadelphia, meets the advances of the very eligible, and equally dull, Lord Lewis and of the charming but penniless Paul Fotheringay, whose terribly serious first novel has, to his dismay, just been hailed by critics as the funniest book of the year.

I bought this book just because it was Christmassy and I thought it sounded interesting - and oh boy it didn't disappoint! This book is actually quite funny and witty, with a simple plot and plenty of character development! The characters are all different and have their funny quirks about them, which adds to the humour - I love how Paul thinks he's written a tragedy but it's ended up being a rip-roaring comedy! Throughout, there was a huge contrast being portrayed between the old fashioned upper class and the more carefree, rebellious youth. For example, the female characters spanned the whole of this spectrum - from Lady Bobbin (who is stuck in her ways and has a clear idea of what is "proper") to Amabelle (an independent widow and likes to be completely rational) to Philadelphia (a young girl who doesn't meet society's expectations but still meets the stereotype of the day!). If you want a light-hearted read with plenty of colourful characters, then I recommend this book!