The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters: Amazon.co.uk: Charlotte Mosley: Books

Review

‘A novelist would never get away with inventing this: a correspondence spanning eight decades, written from locations including Chatsworth and Holloway Prison, between six original and talented women who numbered among their friends Evelyn Waugh, Maya Angelou, J. F. Kennedy and Adolf Hitler.’ J. K. Rowling

‘A glorious portrait of a six-way, life-enhancing, lifelong conversation.’ Sunday Times

'The Mitfords are all competitively exasperating…but slowly, cumulatively, as age and death are stared gallantly in the eye, I ended in tears.' Guardian

‘Absorbing, funny and often very moving…a remarkable story of six remarkable personalities.’ Philip Hensher, Spectator

‘Here, for the first time, are the six women’s own voices booming out from the tomb and across the decades…telling their extraordinary stories, which…is also the story of the twentieth century, told from the front row.’ India Knight, Sunday Times

‘Brilliantly entertaining…and a profoundly moving experience.’ Sunday Telegraph

'An anthropologist’s treasure…Every sister, whether a professional writer or not, has an extraordinary natural talent for narrative: for observation, reflection, jokes, dialogue and description, and deploys it with unfailing energy.' The Times

'”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.' Daily Telegraph

‘The roars and shrieks, the jokes and the teases bounce across every page of this hugely enjoyable book.’ Evening Standard

‘The enduring fascination of this family comes not only from the larks and the society names but from the fact that the big currents of the twentieth century – fascism and communism, wars and death – washed through their lives.’ Financial Times

‘Funny, sad, outrageous and impeccably edited…it never flags for a moment.’ Mail on Sunday

‘This is a long book which gets better and better as you proceed, the genius of it being in its gathering momentum.' Express

‘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.' Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

‘A magnificent celebration of eighty years of sisterhood.’ Hugo Vickers, Country Life

Review

'A novelist would never get away with inventing this: a correspondence spanning eight decades, written from locations including Chatsworth and Holloway Prison, between six original and talented women who numbered among their friends Evelyn Waugh, Maya Angelou, J. F. Kennedy and Adolf Hitler.' J. K. Rowling 'A glorious portrait of a six-way, life-enhancing, lifelong conversation.' Sunday Times 'The Mitfords are all competitively exasperating!but slowly, cumulatively, as age and death are stared gallantly in the eye, I ended in tears.' Guardian 'Absorbing, funny and often very moving!a remarkable story of six remarkable personalities.' Philip Hensher, Spectator 'Here, for the first time, are the six women's own voices booming out from the tomb and across the decades!telling their extraordinary stories, which!is also the story of the twentieth century, told from the front row.' India Knight, Sunday Times 'Brilliantly entertaining!and a profoundly moving experience.' Sunday Telegraph 'An anthropologist's treasure!Every sister, whether a professional writer or not, has an extraordinary natural talent for narrative: for observation, reflection, jokes, dialogue and description, and deploys it with unfailing energy.' The Times '"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.' Daily Telegraph 'The roars and shrieks, the jokes and the teases bounce across every page of this hugely enjoyable book.' Evening Standard 'The enduring fascination of this family comes not only from the larks and the society names but from the fact that the big currents of the twentieth century -- fascism and communism, wars and death -- washed through their lives.' Financial Times 'Funny, sad, outrageous and impeccably edited!it never flags for a moment.' Mail on Sunday 'This is a long book which gets better and better as you proceed, the genius of it being in its gathering momentum.' Express '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.' Waterstone's Books Quarterly 'A magnificent celebration of eighty years of sisterhood.' Hugo Vickers, Country Life

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61 of 63 people found the following review helpful

20th Century Blue-bloods 21 Oct 2007

By Donald Mackay

Format:Hardcover

It's hard to imagine that there will ever be another book quite like this one; partly because of the death of letter-writing but mainly because it is hard to conceive of six astonishing characters as the Mitford sisters in one family - one sister a communist, another a duchess, yet another a bestselling novelist, yet another had Hitler as a wedding guest.

At times laugh-out-loud funny, at others incredibly moving; this is a compelling read and the range of the letters mirrors the diversity of the sisters' lives. The dramatis personae alone justifies the admission price - from Elsa Schiaparelli to Stella Tennant; Goebbels to JFK; Evelyn Waugh to Jon Snow; Winston Churchill to Lucian Freud; this book is an alternative history of the 20th Century.

If this book were a novel, it would fly of the shelves: beautiful writing, excellent jokes as well as tragedies dramatic and mundane, shaped into a compelling narrative by a very skilful editor. I can't recommend this highly enough even for those who think they already "know" the Mitford story.

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95 of 103 people found the following review helpful

A truly wonderful read - I'd like to give it 6 stars! 29 Oct 2007

By Geoffrey Woollard VINE™ VOICE

"Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters," is a truly wonderful read. I have just finished the 800-plus pages and wish very much that there were 800 more. I'd like to give it 6 stars, but dear old Amazon (whose price is a giveaway �14.95 instead of the RRP of �25.00) only permits one to praise to a point. I willingly go beyond that point and any buyer who is a little hesitant about getting the book for Christmas and/or adding more copies to the order for the rellies that are loved or hated - both types will appreciate it, even if they can't or couldn't stand the Mitford 'girls' - should go ahead right away.

I have read somewhere that Charlotte Mosley (daughter-in-law of Diana Mitford, aka Lady Mosley) had access to some 12,000 personal letters exchanged by the sisters over nearly eighty years and has only chosen to use 5% of them for the book. But what a literal hoard of literary treasure!

Mrs Mosley has selected well and edited superbly, bringing out and explaining with her own notes the deep and long-lasting relationships of the sisters, the context of their times, their humour and their eccentricities, their enthusiasm for words in several languages, their loves and their tragedies and, with the exception of the delightful and redoubtable Deborah, now the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, the sadnesses of their passing.

The sisters have been described as "eccentric" and "maddening." Having read and enjoyed every one of their letters as published in this splendid work, I would be inclined to suggest that they were no more eccentric or maddening than the members of many families. But I suppose that their relatively privileged upbringing, their inclination to express themselves with confidence from an early age, their having the time to write so much - both letters and books - and the extraordinary array of celebrities with whom they mixed, all must have been major factors in how and why their lives were so "inter-esting" (or eccentric or maddening).

What were my conclusions? Well, first, I would have loved to have met any one of the ladies, though I would probably have become tongue-tied had a meeting happened. Second, my 'favourite' Mitfords are definitely Diana and Deborah, the former loyal to her late husband (Sir Oswald Mosley) to the last, and the latter clearly the most consistently loving and loved. And third, though it is often said and written that we shall never see such a correspondence again, I suggest that, even with Emails, provided they are filed, it is possible for our electronic means of communication to be preserved for future generations. I have done this with a distant relative and a pleasant (and private) little book is the result.

Finally, I wish to make it clear that I have no 'axe to grind' in praising "Mitfords": I am not and have not been related to or friendly with any of them and am merely reporting my opinion to a wider audience that this book is absolutely magnificent. Buy it now!

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

The Unconventional Mitford Sisters 26 May 2008

By Well Read VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Life 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 arrogant man and a womaniser, she loyally remained faithful. Jessica Mitford, also a writer, eloped with her communist lover to the USA. Mostly, Nancy is the one I had previously known more of through her writing.

Of the six, Nancy, Jessica, Deborah and Diana, are the more interesting sisters. Pamela the most obscure. The only sister living is gentle Deborah, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. She also writes, and transformed Chatsworth with her husband.

The editor, Charlotte Mosley, provides essential background information to the letters. That makes those more interesting reading. The Mitford girls, gossipy, intimate family letters span the 20th century. Much has been written about the Mitford's over the years. Unlike others, Charlotte Mosley had access to 12,000 family letters. Five percent are included in the book.

What makes the Mitford's so fascinating? They were not the wealthiest aristocratic family. They were, however, well connected to other titled and famous people. The sisters lived through the worst and the best of times, becoming embedded in the fabric of British social history. In terms of women's history, they have a rightful place. Like others in their time, they cut through the conventions of how upper class women should be. As to any family eccentricity, that more appropriately applies to their father, and fanatical tragic sister Unity. Charlotte Mosley's book is an erudite addition to the Mitford family saga.

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