- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Long Barn Books (30 Sep 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1902421094
- ISBN-13: 978-1902421094
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 261,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Duchess has that touch of Mitford wit that can also be seen in Nancy & Jessica's writings. Filled with pithy observations about aspects of life in Britain and history, I was laughing out loud at her recountments of ancestral adventures (brothers sharing one hotel room with a dead body, everyone crying at the birth of another girl) and encounters with the general public ("Saw the duchess in the garden, she looked quite normal."; "That's the Dowager Duchess. It was taken the year she died."). A gem of a book!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I picked this book up on a whim and couldn't put it down! It had me laughing out loud at times. It's worth the price of the book just for her two lines about her new T.V.
The authoress is witty, charming, opinionated (and I certainly don't agree with all of her views (for example I love sparrowhawks and hate the cult around Elvis)) but above all I found her adorable.
A lovely gem of a book.
The authoress is witty, charming, opinionated (and I certainly don't agree with all of her views (for example I love sparrowhawks and hate the cult around Elvis)) but above all I found her adorable.
A lovely gem of a book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I knew nothing of the Mitford sisters, especially not that one lived so nearby my family home, until I read `The Mitford's: Letters Between Six Sisters' a few years ago which swiftly became one of my all time favourite reads. Deborah Devonshire, or `Debo', is the youngest and last surviving of the Mitford sisters and was also one of the people responsible for turning Chatsworth into the stately success that it has become. In an assorted collection of articles, diaries and reviews that make up `Counting My Chickens' we gain a greater in sight into her life. From here childhood with her siblings, to taking on Chatsworth and all it entails and to how live has changed for her over the years (I wanted to say as she aged but I fear it would be improper with a Mitford sister and rather impolite).
There are three sections to the collection; `Diaries' looks at her life over several years and has titbits on her sisters and other famous relatives, her thoughts on the TV version of `Love in a Cold Climate' are interesting and thought provoking. `Chatsworth' looks at how the estate has changed over the years, the responsibilities of it and how much she adores the place and the staff it has housed who have become friends. `Books and Company' is a selection of reviews of books by those she knows or those in the `stately home' genre plus more of a look back on her childhood.
I loved all the sections but it was `Chatsworth' that sang out to me, probably because I was one of the youngsters that used to play in the parkland way back when. It really evokes the atmosphere and scenery of that beautiful part of the English countryside. In fact if you love books that are quintessentially English you need go no further than this or indeed any other Mitford memoir. Like her sister Nancy (I have yet to read anything by Jessica) Deborah Devonshire has a way of phrasing things which is sardonic and wry yet delightful and warming. I wonder if it was in their gene pool.
There are three sections to the collection; `Diaries' looks at her life over several years and has titbits on her sisters and other famous relatives, her thoughts on the TV version of `Love in a Cold Climate' are interesting and thought provoking. `Chatsworth' looks at how the estate has changed over the years, the responsibilities of it and how much she adores the place and the staff it has housed who have become friends. `Books and Company' is a selection of reviews of books by those she knows or those in the `stately home' genre plus more of a look back on her childhood.
I loved all the sections but it was `Chatsworth' that sang out to me, probably because I was one of the youngsters that used to play in the parkland way back when. It really evokes the atmosphere and scenery of that beautiful part of the English countryside. In fact if you love books that are quintessentially English you need go no further than this or indeed any other Mitford memoir. Like her sister Nancy (I have yet to read anything by Jessica) Deborah Devonshire has a way of phrasing things which is sardonic and wry yet delightful and warming. I wonder if it was in their gene pool.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amusing
Counting My Chickens: and Other Home Thoughts, is an entertaining collection of occasional writings which first appeared in various newspapers or magazines. Read more
Published 9 months ago by C. Colley
An Aristocratic Gem
This is a delightful book written by a delightful lady with a wicked sense of humour. Forgive me Your Grace but you would never believe from the style of the writing that it was... Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2009 by Robert Davies
Mitford stylee
I am a huge Nancy Mitford fan and having read her books and books about her many times over thought I would give her younger sister a whirl. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by M. Moore
Delightful collection!
A delightful little collection of anecdotes and thoughts from an utterly charming and down to earth but very special lady. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2009 by Mrs. Louise Mckay
Peek behind the scenes of Chatsworth
The now Dowager Duchess of Devonshire recalls incidents from her childhood and her life at Chatsworth House. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2009 by L. Mills-Owen
Ain't No Letters
I think she comes across in her sisters letters as an astonishly funny, bright, informed woman. Sadly being exposed as sole author of a book she comes across as small, not amusing... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2008 by Jocelyn Carr
Witty and pithy
I couldn't put this book down! Deborah Devonshire is a wonderfully successful business woman and an author with a touch of the Mitford eccentricity. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2001 by Barbara Woodyatt
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