Love in a Cold Climate

Love in a Cold Climate is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1949.

Warning: wikipedia contains spoilers

Like its predecessor, The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate is narrated by Fanny, and covers a similar time period but deals with a different subset of characters, revealing more about Fanny's own personal life and the early years of her marriage to Alfred Wincham, an Oxford don.

However, the main characters are Lord and Lady Montdore and their stunning daughter, Polly. Following the death of Lord Montdore's sister, Patricia, Polly shocks everyone by marrying the widower, middle-aged Lothario, "Boy" Dougdale. Her mother, incensed because Boy had previously been her own lover, cuts Polly off. She is soon replaced in her parents' affections by her cousin, Cedric Hampton, a Nova Scotian who is heir to Lord Montdore's title. The outrageously camp Cedric charms everyone he meets and successfully changes Lady Montdore's stuffy image. This highly comic novel ends with a half-hearted reconciliation between Polly and her mother.