Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford: A Review for #1940Club

🐦 I have found this little gem through my searching for a book published in 1940, to read for the 1940 Club. I was struck first by the title: Pigeon Pie. Now, I like eating pigeon, but never on a pie. So, it sounds really delicious to me (the book title, not the pie). And I wasn't wrong, it was a light, delicious, highly entertaining book! Though I wonder, why titled it Pigeon Pie. There was, indeed, a pigeon in the story, but I didn't remember it being killed to be cooked in a pie - although Sophia eating a pigeon pie at the end of the story should be wonderful, I came to think, for it would be a---, wait... maybe I should start from the beginning!

🐦 Nancy Mitford written this book in late 1939, just before World War II began. But it was written as a lighthearted, hilarious satire on the outbreak of a phoney war. I think it's a satire of British high society's views on serious matters, such as war.

🐦 Lady Sophia Garfield is a highly imaginative, flippant woman, who is easily distracted. When the news about the outbreak of the war was broken, she is both excited and bored at the same time. Her husband, Lord Luke Garfield, on the other hand, doesn't believe there would be a war, because Herr Hitler and 'Our Premier' is in good relationship.

🐦 The Garfields' marriage is rather a failure. Luke keeps a woman called Florence Turnbull to stay in the house, Granby Gate; while Sophia is in love with Rudolph Joselyn. Both husband and wife settle on with this neat arrangement. And I think that’s the best for both parties, at least they are still happy and respect each other. While Luke joins a new religious cult: the Boston Brotherhood, Sophia enrols at First Aid Post as a receptionist.

🐦 Counting laundry at the First Aid Post (of which she is terrible) isn't a glamorous occupation. Sophia is dreaming about being a beautiful spy. All the more because her nemesis, Olga Gogothsky (née Baby Bagg) - whom Sophia nicknamed ‘duck-billed platypus disguised as a Sultana’ 🤣 - keeps boasting about being on secret mission as a spy.

🐦 Then a series of events is rapidly happening in succession. Her godfather Sir Ivor King, the legendary singer is found dead, Luke goes to America, and Sophia stays alone in the house, with Florence and two men from the Brotherhood. She then finds out that her house has been the nest of spies! And, as if answering her wishes, she herself is offered a job as a spy!

🐦 I have never read Mitford before, but after this, I'd certainly read more of her! Witty and hilarious, fast-paced but light story about, otherwise, a gory one about war. However, it doesn't feel like she's mocking or taking the war lightly, but more of seeing it from more positive perception. In reality, Mitford wrote a preface, apologizing that Pigeon Pie was written by Christmas 1939, but only published in May 1940.

🐦 My favorite part is perhaps Sir Ivor's 'propaganda': the Pets Program, where he sings for the benefits of all animals, including Millie, Sophia's dear bulldog. But the funniest part is maybe from the rivalry of Olga and Sophia, which produces some of the funniest banters, such as this one:

Olga: “Dearest, I must tell you that it’s a secret. However, when you hear that I have an appointment under the Government, that I have to undertake great responsibilities, and that I may often be called out in the middle of the night without any idea of where I am to go, you may guess the kind of thing it is. More I cannot say.”

Sophia: “Sounds to me like a certified midwife.”

Like I said, this was a silly and hilarious story, very engaging and entertaining. ❤ it! 

Rating: 4 / 5

 

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