Cold Comfort Farm is set in the 1920s countryside, where Miss Flora Poste has gone to live with distant relatives, chosen for their eccentricity, after the death of her cultured and aristocratic parents. A bit of an Austen tale - Flora wants to write a modern version of Persuasion when she's 53 and intends to spend her life til then collecting material - she takes on the Starkadder family of Cold Comfort Farm as a project to keep her occupied until a husband shows up.
Witty, bubbly, and somewhat in the vein of a feminine Evelyn Waugh without the alcoholism, it's a cheery romp that plays off of all sorts of romantic cliches - eccentric aunt who refuses to leave her room and holds the family in an iron grip, the wil o' the wisp daughter in love with a local gentleman, the hunky talkie loving son, and the awful sex obsessed wannabe novelist who insists on pursuing Flora. Kate Beckinsale is perfect in the part and the aesthetic of the movie is so wonderfully eclectic, romantic, and just silly. as the amazon summary says, the cows are named Feckless, Aimless, Pointless, and Graceless. how much better than that can you get?
1 comment:
That's a great book. I should re-read it.
The movie with Kate Beckinsale is one of my all-time favorite movies.
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