Hons and Rebels: The Mitford Family Memoir (W&N Essentials)

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Leni Riefenstahl claims that Hitler told her he could never have an intimate relationship with a foreigner. But he was obviously very fond of Unity; he called her 'Kind' (child) and took her to Bayreuth. Moreover, he was happy to meet the various members of her family who came on visits; they were all duly charmed, except Farve, who persisted in referring to Nazis as 'a murderous gang of pests'. Diana, of course, had her own reasons for cultivating Hitler - he was guest of honour at her wedding to Oswald Mosley in 1936 - but these will have to wait for a posthumous historian. Nobles y rebeldes. Título original: Hons and Rebels. Traducción de Patricia Antón. Introducción de Christopher Hitchens. Actually, this article from The New Yorker about Jessica’s letters explains her relationship with her family very well. Oh Simon, I’m glad you read it. I’m sorry you were expecting more Mitfords. But surely there is enough Mitford stuff out there to keep you satisfied? By the time I finished Letters Between Six Sisters, I felt I’d had more than enough (probably because once Nancy and Decca died, the letters were almost entirely Debo and Diana).

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The first part is hilarious, containing a first-hand description of the goings on at the well known dysfunctional aristocratic family in England between 1920 - 1930's. There were 6 ' Mitford sisters', (and one brother) all of them to become famous and/or eccentric. The second, less hilarious but rather interesting, part is about the author, a communist, who manages to elope with Esmond Romilly. They unsuccessfully try to join the fight against the fascists in Spain and eventually end up in the US. In the early 1980s I began working on my first book, a biography of Nancy Mitford. Four of the six Mitford sisters were then still living, Pamela in the Cotswolds, Diana in Paris with her second husband Sir Oswald Mosley, Debo, wife of the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth, and Jessica, always known as ‘Decca’, with her family in California. Throughout my research Pam, Diana and Debo were immensely kind and helpful, all of them possessed of great charm and a slightly idiosyncratic sense of humour. They invited me to stay, gave me access to hundreds of letters, and mined for my benefit lucid memories of their early lives and of their family and friends. Both Diana and Pamela, however, lived out their postwar lives without major incident. They were not, we might say now, really “canceled.” Diana died in 2003 in Paris, aged 93, leaving behind a diamond swastika. Pamela, one of the two quietest Mitford sisters, died in 1994, aged 86, after having spent the last 40 years of her life living on a country estate as the lover of an Italian horsewoman. (Deborah, the other quiet one, married a duke and devoted her life to caring for his stately home.)Such is the enormous charm of the Love duology that it has powered an entire industry of fascination with the Mitfords — the charm of those novels, and the political extremes of the world in which they were produced. I have to say that my favourite parts of the book were describing her childhood, to me that was where she sparkled the most. Although I did feel that if she had not acted like a petulant child and taught herself-if she had wanted to learn about things and study further she could have taught herself, my grandmother did that-I also think she would have enjoyed herself more...but I digress this is not a space for me to criticize her childhood. Jessica Mitford's dashing and dramatic life story is almost too good to be true from a biography standpoint--and she's so utterly appealing that I think I have a bit of crush on her. Aristocratic and hilariously eccentric upbringing, one of the famous/infamous Mitford sisters (their number including a noted writer in Nancy, not one but TWO Nazis, and a communist--that's Jessica), elopement with her dreamy second cousin and their travels to go fight in the Spanish Civil War, emmigrating to America on next to no money, romantic slumming around the USA...you really could not make a lot of this stuff up. This is a very romantic book; the relationship between Esmund and her, especially their time on the road in America, is so sweetly portrayed. I really enjoyed seeing pre-war America through their eyes. Also, there is some lovely writing about the importance that books can have on the interior life of bookish children that had me nodding my head in agreement. It's quite surprising that I hadn't read this book before - as I have become a little addicted to reading about the mad bad Mitfords. This is a really well written, funny memoir from one of those infamous sisters. If anyone asked me who my favourite Mitford was it would be Nancy every time, the most fascinating was Diana, but the one I would have most likely liked in real life - would have been Jessica. Her warmth and likability come across strongly in this book, and she was able to poke gentle fun at herself, at the same time.

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But the Cotswolds get even further around as the book progresses – as Decca moves to America. Here’s an example both of her early sheltered life, and the wit with which she writes. It is often a very amusing book. Decca is my favourite Mitford and (I’m whispering here) I’m not at all fond of Debo – I think the truth about her will come out in the posthumous biographies that are surely now being prepared… What I was given I thoroughly enjoyed, but I really did want more, more about the years to come and more about why the couple chose to go to America and not Russia! To me it seemed that many of their actions were inspired more by adolescent rebellion, naivety and a young lovers’ attraction rather than deep political beliefs. It’s no secret that I’m a longstanding fan of the Mitfords – or, at least, of reading about them. Debo has an eternal place in my heart, but, even though none of the others quite made it there, I still adored reading the letters between all six sisters. The one whom I didn’t much like (besides Unity, obvs, though her regression after shooting herself is fascinating to see in letter-form) was Jessica. I was chastised. I was told I should read her letters and her books, and that thus I would come to like her more. Finally – FINALLY – I have read Hons and Rebels (1960). Do I like her more? Maybe. Diana was arrested, in part, because of Nancy, who informed on her Nazi sisters to the British authorities. “She is a ruthless and shrewd egotist, a devoted fascist and admirer of Hitler and sincerely desires the downfall of England and democracy in general,” Nancy told MI5 of Diana. Nancy also warned authorities of her sister Pamela, whom Nancy said was a virulent anti-Semite. Pamela and her husband, Nancy wrote, “had been heard to declare a) that all Jews in England should be killed and b) that the war should be stopped now ‘before we lose any more money.’”More than an extremely amusing autobiography...she has evoked a whole generation. Her book is full of the music of time. I'm not an enemy of the working class! I think some of them are perfectly sweet!" she retorted angrily. I could almost see the visions of perfectly sweet nannies, grooms, gamekeepers, that the phrase must have conjured up in her mind.

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The runaways got as far as Bilbao before being rescued by a British destroyer; they eventually ended up in America where Romilly joined the Canadian air force and was killed in the war. Decca remained in the States, married a Jewish lawyer, and never saw Unity or her father again. Excellent review, Simon. While I find Decca’s writing excellent, I’ve never managed to warm to her personally. To me, she’s always come across as a little…I don’t know, petulant perhaps? As though she feels she deserves more of the attention that her sisters received. ReplyFor some reasons, I didn’t realize this was a Mitford biography! What a fascinating family 🙂 Jessica Mitford had a large part in a book I read recently about the civil rights movement in the US called The Eyes of Willie McGee. I got a literary girl crush on her in that book and I think I’ll have to look into this one now, too! Thanks so much for a great review! I really want to read The American Way of Death, particularly after reading Evelyn Waugh’s The Loved One, all about the funeral industry. Si tengo que ser totalmente sincera, más que por interés real por lo que cuenta, escogí este libro para poder comparar la forma de escribir de Jessica Mitord con la de su hermana Nancy, una autora que me encanta cómo escribe y cuyas novelas disfruto totalmente. Y, para que mentir, por la curiosidad de leer sobre las estrafalarias hermanas Mitford y sus polémicas vidas. Pero al final eso no ha sido lo decisivo para que esta lectura me haya agradado tanto. La historia de Jessica es realmente apasionante y adictiva. Fue una mujer increíblemente valiente; ejemplo claro de lo que es hacerse a uno mismo con todas sus consecuencias, sean buenas o malas. The memoir is chopped short at this point, when her husband leaves for Canada to enlist, having ensconced his pregnant wife in the home of some wealthy Americans (on whom she also looks down) who don't quite realise she is being foisted on them for the duration. One wonders how long the marriage would have lasted if he had returned from the front. Sometimes we would barricade with chairs and stage pitched battles, throwing books and records until Nanny came to tell us to stop the noise.

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The audiobook I listened to is narrated by Jenny Agutter. It is based on the book’s 1989 edition which restores that which had been removed from the original 1960 edition. The narration is excellent. I adored the different inflections used for Americans and Brits.It was well over a year since I had begun my research when Decca came to London and agreed to see me. I was slightly apprehensive at the prospect of meeting her, aware of her somewhat confrontational reputation and her long career as a defiantly radical author and journalist. We met at the Chelsea house where she was staying, Decca grey-haired, rather stout, with a very old-fashioned upper-class voice, ‘grossly affected’ as one of her old friends described it. Although, unlike her sisters, I found her slightly intimidating, she answered all my questions and recalled a great deal that was invaluable about her childhood and in particular her relations with Nancy.