Don't Tell Alfred
by Nancy Mitford
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nancy MitfordEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1990-03
ISBN: 0881845973
Number of pages: 223
Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
Book Reviews of Don't Tell Alfred
Book Review: Better than I had expected.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'd put off reading this for a long time simply because I had heard from many that it was an inferior sequel to The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate. I was pleasantly surprised. It may not be up to the standard of the first two books, but I still found it very funny and clearly stamped with Mitford's elegant wit. Paris and the vagaries of French high society make a very good setting for Fanny and Alfred.
The main venom seems to be reserved for the fact that she chose to treat with pop stars in the book (teddy boys). The argument is that she doesn't handle the youth music phenomenon very convincingly. This may be so, but as we see it mainly from Fanny's point of view, I thought it was very much how she would have seen the children. I did not find it to be particularly jarring or inappropriate.
If you are already followed the adventures of Fanny and the Radletts this far, do not be afraid to read Don't Ask Alfred. It is not a good place to begin with the series-- it deserves and needs to be read in order.
I think that I'm going to circle back around and re-read the first two.
Summary of Don't Tell Alfred
This brilliantly funny novel revisits some of the characters from Nancy Mitford's earlier stories including Fanny, who is married to bumbling, absent-minded Oxford don, Alfred. Fanny is content in her role as a tweedy housewife with 'ghastly' clothes, but her life changes overnight when Alfred is appointed English Ambassador to Paris. Suddenly she is mixing with royalty and Rothschilds, hosting cocktail parties and having details of her every move and outfit printed in the papers. As if that wasn't all more than enough to contend with, she also finds herself dealing with an aristocratic squatter, organising her friends' love lives and keeping track of her maverick sons. All she needs now is a diplomatic crisis...General Books
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