Cold Comfort Farm

Cold Comfort Farm (September 1932) is the first book by British author Stella Gibbons. Upon publication, it became an instant success. The comic novel is a parody of rural romances that were popular in Britain at the time. The story was adapted for two BBC television shows in 1968 and 1981. It was also made into a film starring Kate Beckinsale in 1995. Cold Comfort Farm is classified under the category of Classic Humor Fiction. It was named to a list of the 100 Most Influential Novels by BBC News.

Gibbons wrote two more books about the characters from Cold Comfort Farm, the primary setting of the novel named in the title. A prequel called Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm (1940) consisted of a series of short stories. The sequel was titled Conference at Cold Comfort Farm (1949). Neither of the spinoffs achieved the same success as the original story. Although Gibbons wrote 22 more novels and several collections of poetry, her subsequent work never matched the success of her first book.

The events described in the novel take place over a five-month period from February through June. Given the book’s publication date, the reader can assume that the year is 1931.