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Books : The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
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The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters from: HarperPerennial List Price: £10.99 Childrens Toy Shop Price: £5.49 You Save: £5.50 (50%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback EAN: 9781841157740 ISBN: 1841157740 Label: HarperPerennial Manufacturer: HarperPerennial Number Of Pages: 830 Publication Date: May 05, 2008 Publisher: HarperPerennial Studio: HarperPerennial Sales Rank: 284 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Review: '"The Mitfords" are all competitively exasperating!but slowly, cumulatively, as age and death are stared gallantly in the eye, I ended in tears.' The Guardian 'The letters are all compulsively readable!and have a funny, sharp and stylish freshness that suggests they could have just pinged into your inbox'.' The Times Pick of the Week '"The Mitfords" is a thrilling and moving, funny and serious book. Here is a story of a family, of loyalty, love, humour, tragedy and at times, chilling deception, a tale that sometimes amuses and horrifies, but always fascinates!with the diminishing use of the letter as a means of communication, one wonders if there will ever again be such a luminous correspondence.' Telegraph 'Charlotte Mosley's glorious collection -- by turns hilarious, moving and shocking -- should be read by both detractors and admirers, because these letters are social history, pure and simple.' Waterstones Books Quarterly 'This is a long book which gets better and better as you proceed, the genius of it being in its gathering momentum!As editor, (Charlotte Mosley's) quiet rigour and fearlessness of skeletons both in and out of cupboards must be saluted!one is aware of having read something not only unique but very moving too!' The Express Times, Pick of the Week: `The letters are all compulsively readable...funny, sharp and stylish...they could have just pinged into your inbox.' Telegraph: 'Bright, intimate and moving correspondence.' Independent: `The index goes from Hitler to Jerry Hall...that's just the `H''s. All the drama...of a mostly forgotten age.' Book Description: The never-before published letters of the legendary Mitford sisters, alive with wit, affection, tragedy and gossip: a charismatic history of the century's signal events played out in the lives of a controversial and uniquely gifted family. Nancy, the scalding wit who parlayed her family life into bestselling novels. Diana, the fascist jailed with her husband, Oswald Mosley, during WWII. Unity, a suicide, torn by her worship of Hitler and her loyalty to home. Debo, who adored pleasure and fun, and found herself Duchess of Devonshire. Pamela, who craved nothing more than a quiet country life. Jessica, the runaway, a communist and fighter for social change. The Mitfords became myth in their own time: the great wits and beauties of their age, they were immoderate in their passions for ideas and people. Virtually spanning the century, these letters between the sisters -- alternately touching and explosive -- constitute a superb social chronicle, and explore with disarming intimacy their shifting relationships. As editor Charlotte Mosley notes, not since the Brontes has a single family written so much about themselves, or been so written about. Their letters are widely recognized to contain the best of their writing. Mosley, Diana's niece, will select from an archive of 18,000, to which she has exclusive access. Key title / The Mitfords are a cottage industry: sales of 'The Pursuit of Love', Nancy's most popular novel, remain very healthy Interest at acquisition was so high that preemptive first serial offers were made. / Editor Charlotte Mosley, niece of Diana Mosley, has edited two previous and very successful selections of Nancy Mitford's letters; she has exclusive access to the 18,000-letter archive at Chatsworth House. / The vast majority of the letters have never before been seen, including letters from Unity, the Hitler supporter who shot herself at the outbreak of World War II, and Diana's letters from Holloway Prison. Guardian: 'The editing could not have been better...a clear view of how the dynamics of this peculiar family worked.' Scotsman: 'Their humanity is amply illustrated in these, their own enjoyable words.' Sunday Telegraph: 'The great treat of all time...Charlotte Mosley, proves the perfect companion...The letters are brilliantly entertaining.' The Times: '[A] remarkable volume, the editing of which by Charlotte Mosley is distinguished by its...mixture of tact, efficiency and unobtrusiveness.' The Spectator: 'Absorbing, funny and often very moving...a remarkable story of six remarkable personalities.' Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Fascinating and very enjoyable readI knew nothing about the Mitfords before borrowing this book from my mum. I found it highly compelling, especially all the references to the many influential and varied people of the 20th century. It is also very sad at times, especially the harsh realities of the passage of time. This collection of letters has been carefully chosen to tell the reader the Mitfords' story but in the words of the girls themselves. Rating: - A big adventure from start to finish!!This book is a truly wonderful read and I would totally recommend it. I didn't know much about the Mitfords before I read the book, but afterwards I was desperate to find out everything I could! It takes a while to get to grips with who is who - but before long you are sucked into the world of the 'Hons and Rebels' and you don't want to leave!! Its a rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, and the fact that it is real life is the icing on the cake. Rating:  - A truly mixed bagThis is a difficult book to review. The editing is very well done. The layout it clear and the letters' contents are usually well annotated (though I wish this had been more continuous - should the reader be expected to remember that "Edwina" on page x is the same as that on page y, who is annotated on page z?) The contents, though, are another matter. Despite some snippets of very interesting material, for example Unity's accounts of her meetings with Adolf Hitler, rather too many of the letters rarely rise above the mundane, superficial and vacuous. How interesting can it be, just reading that long-dead famous person dined with other long-dead famous person, page after page? Nancy's letters are a case in point. She clearly ... Read More: Rating: - The Unconventional Mitford SistersLife would be incredibly boring without unconventional people. The Mitford's were such an interesting family. The sisters, frequently referred to as "notorious," were pre and post war celebrities, collectively carving a niche in English history. Nancy Mitford's witty writing is as readable now as in the past. Of her novels, I'm particularly fond of "The Pusuit of Love," and "Love in a Cold Climate." Nancy adroitly lampooned the aristocracy. It's the support of fascism by Unity Mitford, who was infatuated with Hitler; and Diana Mitford's marriage to Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Fascists, which even now hasn't been forgiven. In the war years, Diana had the title "the most loathed woman in England". Although Mosley was an ... Read More: Rating: - Ladies of lettersThe Mitford sisters were notorious for beauty & scandal. Diana married Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists & one of the most hated men of the 20th century. Unity had a passion for Hitler, lived in Germany during the 1930s & was so distraught at the outbreak of WWII that she attempted suicide. Jessica was a Communist, running away with a young man to the Spanish Civil War & spent much of her life in America. Nancy was a novelist with a waspish sense of humour who lived in France & was unhappily in love with a man who would never marry her. Pamela loved the country life but became increasingly eccentric in later life. Deborah married the Duke of Devonshire, and turned Chatsworth into one of the most popular stately ... Read More: |
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