I avoided watching, because the Wes Andersonification of my greatest literary succour seemed likely to burst every vein in my eyeballs. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. However, Jassie is a much more interesting character this time, about the only thing better in the book, even if she didn’t run away. If you can accept that, it’s perfectly fun to get swept along with Linda and her numerous beaus and enterprises, and to lean into the naughty, off-kilter humour that Knight is so good at. So fresh, fun and full of heart, charm and whimsy - and that devastating ending comes all the more sharply because the reader has been having such a good time with the Radletts (extra points for including a reference to Cromer!

Franny, the narrator, is even less inconsequential than in the original; but Knight has so, so much fun with Uncle Matthew, Davey and Jassy, who were always the best characters anyway.I have done ever since I picked up a copy of Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison when I was 13 and would spend hours laughing over every sentence. His violently arbitrary, Nicky Haslam-style hatreds pepper the pages: enoki mushrooms, thin socks or open-mouthed Instagrammers.

But Darling is a treat, with whip-smart dialogue, larger-than- life characters, witty observations and a heart-breaking twist . As well as Mitford, there is something of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s much-adored Cazalet Chronicles in here, plus elements of Eva Rice’s The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and Barbara Trapido’s Brother of the More Famous Jack.A razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud novel that re-imagines the cast of Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love. Darling is a wonderfully escapist caper of a read that will sweep you up into Linda’s world as she navigates it all in the pursuit of that epic love that is always just out of reach. I understand that using blank-space-Fran as narrator is a way of making the reader feel involved, but there should have been some serious conversations between the author and their editor at a fairly early stage about the wisdom of having much of the book narrated in great detail by someone who wasn't there and couldn't have known everything they describe, even if the characters who were there had told them. Matthew is a retired rockstar, Sadie is his earth mother wife – and they home school their children – and Franny.

By making Mr Radlett a working-class rock star rather than moneyed aristocrat, Knight gives herself the opportunity to rib the upper classes through his frequently irate, defiantly egotistical lens.Knight is a columnist for the Sunday Times Style, who has also written four other novels and some non-fiction books, along with a children’s book. Okay readers, don’t judge me, we’ve all done it, but I requested this book solely on the basis of loving that simply gorgeous front cover. I found myself tearing through, beguiled by Knight's faithful channelling of Radlett ways, wiles and speech patterns . A Little Luck is the story about the debilitating weight of lies, the messy line between bravery and cowardice, and the tragedies, big and small, that can ripple out from a single decisive event.