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Cold Comfort Farm: Popular Penguins

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( 54,162 ratings, 4,854 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is a satirical novel following Flora Poste, an orphaned London socialite who moves to her relatives' dilapidated rural farm. With wit and determination, Flora seeks to civilise her eccentric and dysfunctional family, bringing order to their chaotic lives. The story is a humorous exploration of rural life and the clash between modernity and tradition.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate satirical takes on rural life and enjoy witty humour. It offers a delightful exploration of eccentric characters and absurd situations, wrapped in a clever critique of pastoral novels. If you find sharp social commentary blended with comedy appealing, this will be a captivating read.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders, an eccentric group of relatives suffering from a wide variety of ailments.

But Flora loves nothing better than to organise other people. Armed with common sense and a strong will, she resolves to take each of the family in hand.

A hilarious and merciless parody of rural melodramas, Cold Comfort Farm is one of the best-loved comic novels of all time.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Cold Comfort Farm: Popular Penguins by Stella Gibbons is often praised for its witty and satirical take on rural British life. Readers appreciate its humour, engaging plot, and the clever parody of romanticised rural novels. Critics frequently highlight the book's memorable characters and Gibbons' ability to craft a story that remains fresh and entertaining decades after its initial publication.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141045481

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 June 2009

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 111.0mm

Height: 180.0mm

Weight: 154g

Pages: 264

About the Author

Stella Dorothea Gibbons, novelist, poet and short-story writer, was born in London in 1902. She went to the North London Collegiate School and studied journalism at University College, London. She then worked for ten years on various papers, including the Evening Standard. Her first publication was a book of poems The Mountain Beast (1930) and her first novel Cold Comfort Farm (1932) won the Femina Vie Heuruse Prize for 1933. Amongst her other novels are Miss Linsey and Pa (1936), Nightingale Wood (1938), Westwood (1946), Conference at Cold Comfort Farm (1959) and Beside the Pearly Water (1954). Her Collected Poems appeared in 1950. In 1933 she married the actor and singer Allan Webb, who died in 1959. They had one daughter. Stella Gibbons died in 1989.

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  • Cold Comfort Farm
    Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons' hilarious comic novel of rural life, is new to Penguin Modern Classics. When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders — cousin Judith, heaving with remorse for unspoken wickedness;...
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  • Enbury Heath
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  • Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm
    A Christmas treat from a treasured comic writer Indulge in a feel-good collection of stories from the author of Cold Comfort Farm. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH The title story tells of a typical Christmas at the farm before the coming of Flora Poste. It is a parody of the worst sort of family Christmas—Adam Lambsbreath dresses up...
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  • The Charmers
    'Gibbons was an acute and witty observer, and her dissection of the British class system is spot-on' - Mail on Sunday Thrown out of her long-established office job, Miss Christine Smith takes up a new role as housekeeper for a group of middle-aged artists. Charmed by a previous mystical experience, her spirituality is nurtured further by the tenants, who seem...
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    Stella Gibbons's gift is very special – Daily Express As heard on BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime Amy, a neglected motherless child in 1920s London, meets Robert, a wealthy American boy. It's an encounter she will never forget. My American follows the lives and loves of Amy Lee and Robert Vorst – from a chance childhood meeting to the...
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