Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 Oh, Cold Comfort Farm, where have you been all my life? This classic went completely past my radar and now that I've found it I'm actually surprised that it's not dedicated to me, specifically. 
 Cold Comfort Farm, published in 1932, pokes gentle fun at the sub-genre of novels that dwells on misery and melodrama on English farms. Early versions of this genre include the works of Thomas Hardy and of course Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. In Cold Comfort Farm, our heroine, Flora, becomes an orphan and decides to sponge off of her relatives instead of getting a job. Flora likes things to be fun and cheerful, but also tidy. She's a great fan of Jane Austen, and not at all a fan of getting a job. 
 This book is essentially one in which Jane Austen's character Emma (but a version of Emma who is never wrong) visits Wuthering Heights. Few things are as delicious as the matter of fact way Flora reacts to the storm of insanity that surrounds her. The insane characters include Amos, who is constantly preaching about hellfire ("THERE'LL BE NO BUTTER IN HELL!"), and Seth, the representation of raw sexuality, who starts off with his shirt completely unbuttoned but who is always unbuttoning another button (where do all these buttons come from?). 
 I feel like this book is the very book I have been waiting for lo these many years. It is an absolute delight. Fans of Austen will like Flora's utter imperviousness to melodrama and fans of the Bronte's will love the send-ups of Bronte hand-wringing and commotion. Ultimately Flora sets all to rights and there's this deep sense of satisfaction that everything is well in the world. 
 I had Good Book Sigh(r), and then I read it again. This is going to be my new therapy book, because it makes me laugh and also convinces me that out of chaos can be brought order. 
 - Carrie S.