Watch Love in a Cold Climate

In 1940, everyone in the Radletts' extended family is doing their part for the war effort: Aunt Sadie stores crates for the British Museum; Uncle Matt drills Local Defense Volunteers; and Linda hunkers down in London, waiting for her darling Fabrice despite his pleas that she retreat to the countryside for safety.

Penniless and stranded in Paris, Linda struggles to recover from her second failed marriage. A stranger at the Gare du Nord train station offers aid, sparking a fast friendship. As the possibility of a full-blown affair blooms, the onset of war threatens to separate the lovers.

Lady Montdore throws an extravagant Venetian ball featuring canals, costumes, and more than one startling revelation. The success buoys her mood enough to reconcile with Polly, who is consoling her loss of Boy's baby with the company of a new admirer. Linda follows Christian to a refugee camp in Perpignon, France.

Cedric Hampton arrives at Hampton, thrilled at the prospect of his future life and determined to reshape Lady Montdore into an appropriate companion. Polly has retreated to Sicily with her new husband but finds the heat stifling as her marriage quickly cools. Christian Talbot, a penniless communist, wins an adoring fan in Linda.

It's 1933 and Linda, Fanny, and Polly all seem to have found domestic bliss. Behind closed doors, however, the truth emerges: Linda is trapped in a loveless marriage, and her in-laws refuse to allow her to spend her pregnancy with her family. Polly's wedding to Boy Dougdale dissolves into disaster as Lady Montdore faces her estate's title falling to an heir she has never met.

Despite disapproval from both families, Linda and her beau, Tony, are more determined than ever to marry. Sonia's patience is put to the test as her willful daughter and bullheaded husband each stand their ground. Meanwhile, Polly resists her mother's meddling and wheedling to pick a husband--until she lays eyes on the very rich and very married Boy Dougdale.

Polly Montdore has grown into a haughty beauty, aloof to her mother and society at large, but dear to the Radlett girls. As her coming-out ball and the following year progress, Polly and her confidante Linda Radlett pursue matrimony--although not with the men their parents would have selected.

The gaggle of Radlett girls and their friends are filled with excitement of the season and an unquenched curiosity about married life. Their eccentric childhood includes Lord Alconleigh "hunting" his offspring with bloodhounds for exercise and Cousin Fanny joining the madcap household, acting as record keeper for years to come.