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Product Description
Book Description
The classic memoir of one of the century's most extraordinary families.
Product Description
'Whenever I read the words "Peer's Daughter" in a headline,' Lady Redesdale once sadly remarked, 'I know it's going to be something about one of you children.' The Mitford family is one of the century's most enigmatic, made notorious by Nancy's novels, Diana's marriage to Sir Oswald Mosley, Unity's infatuation with Hitler, Debo's marriage to a duke and Jessica's passionate commitment to communism. Hons and Rebels is an enchanting and deeply absorbing memoir of an isolated and eccentric upbringing which conceals beneath its witty, light-hearted surface much wisdom and depth of feeling.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this after reading Jessica Mitford's letters. I was intrigued by her and the Mitford family and this autobiography of her early years is a perfect companion to the letters.
If someone told you this was a novel you would probably believe it, very easy to read and full of strange, weird and wonderful characters. It's easy to think that this is some work of fiction. If you're new to Jessica (Decca) Mitford, I would recommend this as a starting point and then follow it with her letters. My next Mitford-related purchase will be the letters between the six sisters when it's released in paperback.
If someone told you this was a novel you would probably believe it, very easy to read and full of strange, weird and wonderful characters. It's easy to think that this is some work of fiction. If you're new to Jessica (Decca) Mitford, I would recommend this as a starting point and then follow it with her letters. My next Mitford-related purchase will be the letters between the six sisters when it's released in paperback.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fantastic autobiography. It begins with Jessica's early years at home with her family, the eccentric Mitfords. Every character comes vividly to life under her pen - her sardonic mother and fiery father, and each of her larger-than-life sisters: witty Nancy, headstrong Diana, conservative Pam, Hitler-obsessed Unity, romantic and wistful Deborah - and their often-overlooked brother Tom. Such strong and entertaining personalities make for hilarious reading.
Jessica successfully carries the reader through into the days when this eccentricity becomes something more ominous and oppressive. She strongly questions her family's devoted loyalty to Conservatism, Fascism and Hitler's Nazi Germany, instead feeling very much on the side of liberal Communism.
She runs away to the war against Franco in Spain with her spirited cousin Esmond, whom she later marries. Their exploits in France, Spain and America, living a hand-to-mouth existence and taking every lucky opportunity, make up the rest of the book, with witty and lively character portraits interspersed with poignant remembrance of her family and deep, educational discussion of politics.
Despite the heavy presences of war and politics, the book is never weighed down, though there was always a sadness in my mind that Esmond was killed shortly after the experiences detailed here. The four photos helped bring these experiences to life and allowed the reader to put names to the faces they must surely come to admire and love throughout the course of Jessica's tale. Highly recommended.
Jessica successfully carries the reader through into the days when this eccentricity becomes something more ominous and oppressive. She strongly questions her family's devoted loyalty to Conservatism, Fascism and Hitler's Nazi Germany, instead feeling very much on the side of liberal Communism.
She runs away to the war against Franco in Spain with her spirited cousin Esmond, whom she later marries. Their exploits in France, Spain and America, living a hand-to-mouth existence and taking every lucky opportunity, make up the rest of the book, with witty and lively character portraits interspersed with poignant remembrance of her family and deep, educational discussion of politics.
Despite the heavy presences of war and politics, the book is never weighed down, though there was always a sadness in my mind that Esmond was killed shortly after the experiences detailed here. The four photos helped bring these experiences to life and allowed the reader to put names to the faces they must surely come to admire and love throughout the course of Jessica's tale. Highly recommended.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The first half of Hons and Rebels will be familiar to you if you've read Nancy Mitford's books, with vague Muv and roaring Farve, debutante balls, cold houses and all that.
But the second half is something else: it's 1930s Europe (including Britain) and the US, observed by someone witty, engaged and entertaining, who has the enormous advantage of being born into the incestuous British ruling class, but who can't accept the status quo.
This combination of personality and accident of birth -- along with the witty, honest writing style -- is what makes the book so special. It enables her to save hundreds of pounds (this in the 1930's) without ever getting a job, and then get Winston Churchill's charismatic, anti-fascist nephew, who happens to be her cousin, to take her with him to Spain. British reporters travel to the Basque Country just to report on the scandal of the runaway Peer's daughter, even as the Germans bomb Guernica. Later, she and her cousin Esmond get away with behaviour that would probably land a less well-connected person in the dock for theft.
I unintentionally tripled my knowledge of the political climate just before WWII in a few pages. Ms Mitford doesn't write as an expert or a historian, but as someone who was unusually well-connected, observant and engaged. Her point of view is unique in my experience. If she had been a man she would have been more active, and quite likely have been killed. If she had been a woman more like her mother or most of sisters, she would have devoted herself principally to incubating more aristocrats, perhaps with some memoirs or a novel or two to keep herself occupied.
I thoroughly recommend this book.
But the second half is something else: it's 1930s Europe (including Britain) and the US, observed by someone witty, engaged and entertaining, who has the enormous advantage of being born into the incestuous British ruling class, but who can't accept the status quo.
This combination of personality and accident of birth -- along with the witty, honest writing style -- is what makes the book so special. It enables her to save hundreds of pounds (this in the 1930's) without ever getting a job, and then get Winston Churchill's charismatic, anti-fascist nephew, who happens to be her cousin, to take her with him to Spain. British reporters travel to the Basque Country just to report on the scandal of the runaway Peer's daughter, even as the Germans bomb Guernica. Later, she and her cousin Esmond get away with behaviour that would probably land a less well-connected person in the dock for theft.
I unintentionally tripled my knowledge of the political climate just before WWII in a few pages. Ms Mitford doesn't write as an expert or a historian, but as someone who was unusually well-connected, observant and engaged. Her point of view is unique in my experience. If she had been a man she would have been more active, and quite likely have been killed. If she had been a woman more like her mother or most of sisters, she would have devoted herself principally to incubating more aristocrats, perhaps with some memoirs or a novel or two to keep herself occupied.
I thoroughly recommend this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
très bon livre
perfect c'est très énervant qu'on nous demande au moins 20 mots. la prochaine fois je n'envoie plus de rapport.Dommage si je veux quand même mettre 5 étoiles.
Published 3 months ago by Micha
Awesome Jessica
Even if one takes the reservations expressed by her less sympathetic sisters about the strict truthfulness of some events this autobiographical book, it is impossible to miss the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by DugaldF
Very interesting read
Very interesting insight into the life of Jessica Mitford and the rest of her extraordinary family. Easy to read and give a good background to life in pre-war Great Britain.
Published 6 months ago by DorsetMum
Decca's Tale
I do not disagree with other reviewers here and will not repeat either the summary or the favorable views already expressed. My addendum is simply that (imho ! Read more
Published 10 months ago by J. Nichols
Perfect
"Hons and Rebels" is a hilarious account of an eccentric upper-class upbringing, an insightful analysis of the author's emotional and moral development from childhood to adulthood,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Eleanor
The Mitford sisters.
I have always been fascinated by the era and lives of the Mitford sisters and this was a very good read.
Published 12 months ago by bromley
A fascinating and informative biography
This biography of Jessica Mitford tells the true story of a family heavily satirised in Nancy Mitford's novels. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2001
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