Love in a Cold Climate

Polly Hampton, impeccably connected and devastatingly beautiful, finds herself utterly bored by the glittering debutante season in interwar London, despite her formidable mother, Lady Montdore, grooming her for a perfect aristocratic marriage. Having recently returned from India, Polly claims to disdain society's obsession with love, but beneath her cool exterior lies a profound secret: a scandalous affair with her stepfather, Boy. When this truth inevitably comes to light, it detonates her mother's meticulously laid plans, leading to Polly's dramatic disinheritance and social disgrace. However, her unconventional journey is just beginning. As an elderly duke surprisingly pursues the ostracized Polly, and a seemingly naive heir curries favor with her bewildered parents, the narrative playfully subverts expectations. Through a series of witty twists and turns, Mitford brilliantly navigates the eccentricities of the English upper class, ultimately guiding all her characters towards their own unique and often unexpected paths to happiness.