The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
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Manufacturer: HarperPerennial
Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781841157740
ISBN: 1841157740
Label: HarperPerennial
Manufacturer: HarperPerennial
Number Of Pages: 830
Publication Date: 2008-05-05
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Studio: HarperPerennial
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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Really good read
Comment: I am really interested in the Mitford Sisters so I have been really looking forward to getting this book. It was much bigger than I expected but was very enjoyable. I admit that I got a bit bored with all the footnotes and about half-way through just started to ignore them unless I was really confused. Through the letters you get to see life from their many different perspectives, it really made me think of the relationship that I have with my own sister and the many times that we have seen the same situation in very different ways. I would recommend this book to people even if they are not a fan of the Mitfords- it gives a really good insight into that period of history.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting revelations
Comment: These letters certainly open a window on the true characters of the six Mitford sisters (perhaps less so on Unity, because her life basically ended in 1939).
I found the written exchanges between Debo and Diana particularly interesting as these letters, particularly the latter ones, confirmed what I already suspected: what utter snobs they were (are); much more heartless, really, than Nancy (who they accused of being heartless, between themselves, many times). It's also made clear from these letters that none of the sisters, except possibly Nancy, had much respect or sisterly loyalty for Jessica Mitford after she abandoned her upper class family for a life of social activism in the USA. It's as if a wall came down between Jessica and her upper class sisters, which only Nancy was occasionally able to bridge (Debo's so-called special relationship with her "Hen" notwithstanding--I think Jessica invested more in that relationship than Debo ever could). It's very unpleasant to read a discussion of just what Jessica should be told about Nancy's medical condition, or if she should be summoned to their mother's deathbed, or Nancy's. They (Diana and Debo, and Pam in particular) obviously, if almost subconsciously, wanted Jessica kept apart.
(I'm not saying I didn't find Jessica's dogged belief in the benefits of Communism offensive at times, but in the face of Diana's unredeemed Fascism it is somewhat more palatable. At least, she was trying to make a world fit for all to live in, not just a world fit for a few to live in.)
I don't know what else to say about these letters. Some of them are certainly funny, clever, a window on the sisters' lives and times, etc., but the strongest impression I received was the overall lack of affection for Jessica after she decided to remain in America following her first husband's death in WWII. It's a shame that Jessica didn't cool her relationship with Debo because the relationship was so sadly, on Debo's part, disloyal and underhanded.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and very enjoyable read
Comment: I 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A big adventure from start to finish!!
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A truly mixed bag
Comment: This 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 wrote far better prose than her sisters, but the level rarely rose above an obsession with her wardrobe and the weather.
This is, of course a function of the fact that these women were a product of their class and their age, and I have little interest in, or time for, any of them personally except Jessica, who actually made the effort to cut herself of from the shallowness and to work to actually make a difference. Too much of the time of the others was taken up by bemoaning their lot (only two servants, three houses etc.) or by listing their famous friends.
Only as late middle age drew upon the women did their letters (and punctuation!) improve. This is clearly an important source of material and needed to be put into the public domain, but for long stretches it is also truly disappointing.
Summary: Really good read
Comment: I am really interested in the Mitford Sisters so I have been really looking forward to getting this book. It was much bigger than I expected but was very enjoyable. I admit that I got a bit bored with all the footnotes and about half-way through just started to ignore them unless I was really confused. Through the letters you get to see life from their many different perspectives, it really made me think of the relationship that I have with my own sister and the many times that we have seen the same situation in very different ways. I would recommend this book to people even if they are not a fan of the Mitfords- it gives a really good insight into that period of history.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting revelations
Comment: These letters certainly open a window on the true characters of the six Mitford sisters (perhaps less so on Unity, because her life basically ended in 1939).
I found the written exchanges between Debo and Diana particularly interesting as these letters, particularly the latter ones, confirmed what I already suspected: what utter snobs they were (are); much more heartless, really, than Nancy (who they accused of being heartless, between themselves, many times). It's also made clear from these letters that none of the sisters, except possibly Nancy, had much respect or sisterly loyalty for Jessica Mitford after she abandoned her upper class family for a life of social activism in the USA. It's as if a wall came down between Jessica and her upper class sisters, which only Nancy was occasionally able to bridge (Debo's so-called special relationship with her "Hen" notwithstanding--I think Jessica invested more in that relationship than Debo ever could). It's very unpleasant to read a discussion of just what Jessica should be told about Nancy's medical condition, or if she should be summoned to their mother's deathbed, or Nancy's. They (Diana and Debo, and Pam in particular) obviously, if almost subconsciously, wanted Jessica kept apart.
(I'm not saying I didn't find Jessica's dogged belief in the benefits of Communism offensive at times, but in the face of Diana's unredeemed Fascism it is somewhat more palatable. At least, she was trying to make a world fit for all to live in, not just a world fit for a few to live in.)
I don't know what else to say about these letters. Some of them are certainly funny, clever, a window on the sisters' lives and times, etc., but the strongest impression I received was the overall lack of affection for Jessica after she decided to remain in America following her first husband's death in WWII. It's a shame that Jessica didn't cool her relationship with Debo because the relationship was so sadly, on Debo's part, disloyal and underhanded.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and very enjoyable read
Comment: I 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A big adventure from start to finish!!
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A truly mixed bag
Comment: This 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 wrote far better prose than her sisters, but the level rarely rose above an obsession with her wardrobe and the weather.
This is, of course a function of the fact that these women were a product of their class and their age, and I have little interest in, or time for, any of them personally except Jessica, who actually made the effort to cut herself of from the shallowness and to work to actually make a difference. Too much of the time of the others was taken up by bemoaning their lot (only two servants, three houses etc.) or by listing their famous friends.
Only as late middle age drew upon the women did their letters (and punctuation!) improve. This is clearly an important source of material and needed to be put into the public domain, but for long stretches it is also truly disappointing.
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