Why Fanny Logan’s narration is focused on Linda in The Pursuit of Love. The Amazon series, which first premiered on the BBC in the spring, is an adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s 1945 novel of the same name. The Pursuit of Love turns its attention to Fanny and Linda Radlett, cousins who are very close, as they face heartbreak, find love, and raise children in the years between world wars. While the series, which is written and directed by Emily Mortimer, follows both characters, it's Fanny who narrates Linda’s life.
Given the era, Fanny fits more into the societal structures and norms that Linda more outrightly rejects. Because Fanny is close to Linda, her narration showcases the differences between them and the lens through which Linda is particularly seen by Fanny and others around her. Fanny, as grounded as she is, provides an unobstructed, less whimsy reading of Linda’s choices. Linda, who is flighty and sees love and the world through rose-colored glasses, may not have made a reliable narrator, especially considering her denial about certain things and her tendency to do as she pleases without informing others of her decisions.
Fanny and Linda are opposites, but Fanny has more time to think and process things since she’s more settled than Linda who, despite living an adventurous life, isn’t as open with certain feelings as Fanny is. By comparison, Linda’s life turned out to be more eventful than Fanny’s, who remained a stable figure in the former’s life while settling down in her marriage and growing a family of her own. It’s through her narration of Linda’s life that the audience begins to understand Linda’s state of mind, her decisions, and the feelings leading her to chase (and romanticize) love. Linda was never in one place for too long and Fanny’s narration was an anchor in her constantly changing lifestyle and ideas.
It’s an interesting part of the story insofar as it’s unique in the way it frames the narrative; most novels and their respective adaptations are narrated by their lead characters, but The Pursuit of Love changes things up. To that end, Fanny’s focus on the details and interiority of Linda’s life hinders her own character development and the audience doesn’t get to know her better than her cousin by the end, with certain aspects of her story given only brief attention before shifting back to center Linda. Still, Fanny’s narration grounds the series while indirectly offering insight into Linda’s perspective, the realistic vs. ideal notions of romance, and the deep love the cousins have for each other.
Fanny understands Linda quite deeply and, though they don’t always share the same ideas, Fanny rarely judges her cousin for the choices she’s made. Fanny’s focus on Linda ultimately offers an image of two different women, each with a different history that shapes who they become. But for Linda to have narrated her own story in The Pursuit of Love would have likely not given much thought to Fanny, who was not always at the forefront of Linda’s life. It would have also not given the audience a fuller picture of society and the women who are confined by it in various ways.
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