The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters | Charlotte Mosley

The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters | Charlotte Mosley | Reading between the lines

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The Mitfords: Lett...

	The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters Charlotte Mosley Harper, 2007 - 864 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The great wits and beauties of their age, the Mitford sisters were immoderate in their passions for ideas and people, counting among their diverse friends Adolf Hitler and Queen Elizabeth II, Cecil Beaton and President Kennedy, Evelyn Waugh and Givenchy. As editor Charlotte Mosley notes, not since the Brontës have the members of a single family written so much about themselves, or have been so written about.

The Mitfords offers an unparalleled look at these privileged sisters: Nancy, the scalding wit who transformed her family life into bestselling novels; Pamela, who craved nothing more than a quiet country life; Diana, the fascist jailed with her husband, Oswald Mosley, during World War II; Unity, a suicide, torn by her worship of Hitler and her loyalty to home; Jessica, the runaway Communist and fighter for social change; and Deborah, the genial socialite who found herself Duchess of Devonshire.

Spanning the twentieth century, the magically vivid letters of the legendary Mitford sisters constitute not just a superb social and historical chronicle; they also provide an intimate portrait of the stormy but enduring relationships between six beautiful, gifted, and radically different women who wrote to one another to confide, commiserate, tease, rage, and gossip?and above all to amuse.

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I hated to see this collection end

Once several years ago, I cancelled plans to attend a New Year's Eve party because I was enthralled by an early edition of Mitford letters edited by Charlotte Moseley, "With Love From Nancy" which collected the letters of the eldest Mitford sister.
Now Ms Mosely has given us the letters written between all 6 sisters: Nancy, the author of a number of witty novels and biographies; Diana-who married Oswold Mosley, the head of the British Union of Fascists and spent time in prison during WWII; Unity who was enamored of Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain went to war with Germany; Pam, the family farmer; Jessica, Communist and muckraker and Deborah, the Duchess of Devonshire Prepare to become addicted to reading these letters.
The Mitfords are interesting all on their own and the tensions and divisions created by their individual political views is worth a read. In addition they knew everyone and were not afraid to voice opinions.
For a special chill, read the letters written by Unity and Diana during WWII. "Poor, sweet Hitler" indeed!

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Reading between the lines

3/31/08 The page on nicknames,The index, The footnotes, The profiles of the sisters and The photos make this extra weighty book become the fascination that most books of so many pages often fail to do..;of help, thanks to the book's editorial genius is : the ability of readers to note what the sisters had in common vs where they disagreed and when and to whom they wrote lengthy and/ or more confidential letter ..., whom they implored for help (even to wanting a health care provider in the hospital to be threatened to be less spartan)..also " continuous scanning of index cross referencing due to footnotes or in specific letters plus being informed from "the profiles" who was the "nazi",or "fascist",or "communist",or " quiet /country girl' or "wit /writer" or "elitess/socialite" ...The surviving sister , the socialite ,who was "apolitical" ,has made their saving of their letters to share with others not in vain;: a glimpse into the world in which the privileged often choose to travel . Their "bios" will probably benefit the "privileged readers "the most, as this book reminds them via "one(s) of their own" that right decisions guarantee more than the values of family status,money and/or power.

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Wonderful collection

Wonderfully edited collection of letters by the famous sisters. Fascinating to read, in that they all seem to have had considerable writing talent & lived through dramatic periods of the 20th century. Snap it up!

Engaging. . .In a Way

I tend to agree with the reviewer who found this collection a bit too long. As an avid reader of letters (mostly literary) I was interested to read these as references to the Mitford sisters turn up in many collections of the early 20th Century. I was by turns drawn to and annoyed by these letters. The most tiresome of the bunch is Unity -- a full blown nazi who shot herself when England declared war with Germany in 1942. Unfortunately, her aim was like her politics and she missed thus returning to England a veritable idiot who depended on the kindness of her mother, another Nazi sympathizer. Diana married Sir Mosley -- another nazi -- and spent her years defending his politics. Nancy took up a life in France fell in love with a man who did not return her affections and wrote a number of novels popular in their time. Jessica came to the United States, married an America, and took up the cause of civil rights here. Of course her sisters were put off by her Americanization; (Nancy and Diana had little if any affection for Yanks). So yes, the letters are interesting but one also asks "who cares?" These were women of privilege who, with the exception of Jessica, never did much to recommend themselves.

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The Mitfords:Letters Between Sisters

A fascinating collection but too long -- also I feel likely of limited interest unless one is British, and was alive and aware of this family at the time these letters were writtten, otherwise too many explanatory footnotes would be necessary. Nevertheless, a rare glimpse into a period that was unique, and likely a surprising portrait of a family who lived, considering their place in upper-class English society, "outside the box".

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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