She's a compelling actress, but here she struggles to make Linda's impetuousness work. The weak link in The Pursuit of Love, unfortunately, is James, who has trouble reading young enough to play the romantically naïve Linda in a way that doesn't suggest psychosis. The closest comparison I can think of is Whit Stillman's 2016 Jane Austen adaptation Love & Friendship, which satisfied its period requirements while also traipsing through all of Stillman's gossipy, status-obsessed preoccupations and sparkling dialogue. This kind of literary adaptation is another thing altogether, and while it doesn't always come together, Mortime's exciting creative instincts are very much on display. She and Wells co-created the HBO series Doll & Em in 2014, a low-key comedy about the entertainment industry. Mortimer has long been a top-notch actress for whom Hollywood has often struggled to find good roles. Mortimer's guiding hand resists traditional costume drama at every turn, injecting a modern soundtrack that includes New Order and Sleater-Kinney, as well as a pronounced un-stuffiness.

In her brief appearances, Fanny's mother is played by Emily Mortimer, who also writes and directs this three-part miniseries adaptation. Fanny's mother is so unreliable and prone to taking off that she's referred to as 'The Bolter,' leaving her daughter to be raised by her aunt Emily (Annabel Mullion) and Linda's parents (Dominic West and Dolly Wells).

Deeply romantic and intensely emotional, Linda is best pals with her cousin, Fanny (Emily Beecham), through whom the story is told. James plays Linda Radlett, heedless daughter of a society family in pre-World War II England. And just like that show was an upstairs/downstairs look at Edwardian England as the march of time made its customs irrelevant, The Pursuit of Love injects its own modern sensibilities into a story that seems like it should be a period romance but is instead rather unromantic and unprecious about the age in which it takes place. This era should be familiar to the show's star, Lily James, as she got her big break playing Lady Rose on Downton Abbey. This week brings Amazon's adaptation of Nancy Mitford's 1945 novel, The Pursuit of Love, centering on two British cousins of marrying age in the period between World Wars.

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford