A joint biography of the Mitford sisters and their family. Eminently readable, and it's almost incredible to think about how broad a swath this group of people cut across Europe and America through much of the twentieth century. ( )

best book I,ve read this year ( )

Una famiglia straordinaria davvero, o meglio: forse una famiglia come tante ma in cui alcune personalità e gli eventi storici hanno giocato un ruolo incredibile.
Straordinario ho trovato pure il fatto che di queste donne io non avessi mai sentito parlare prima e ancora non mi capacito di come persone del tutto ordinarie possano, complici alcuni eventi, essersi spinte così lontano.

This is a biography of the Mitford family with the focus on their parents and the six daughters. The son Tom is included on the periphery. The sisters were news makers from the late 1920's to the 1990;s. The oldest, Nancy, was a prolific writer of novels based on her eccentric family. Jessica (Decca) fled to the USA and became a member of the Communist Party which led to conflicts with Committee on Un-American Activities of the US Senate and constant surveillance by the FBI. Diana married Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Fascist Party in the UK which led to both of them spend over three years in jail during WW II. Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire. Unity became a close friend of Hitler and when war was declared in 1939, because of her disappointment, she tried to commit suicide.

The book is also a history of the social life of the UK during this period and many famous people move through the pages of this volume including such as Churchill, Chamberlain and John Kennedy. The antics of this family entertained the masses for almost a century.

Contains immense detail but extremely readable. ( )

The lines between left and right have become blurred. But the ideological divide in the thirties was distinctive. Stalin in the Soviet Union and Hitler in Germany were at each end of the ideological continuum.

Diana Mosley and Unity Mitford's friendship with Adolf Hitler made them famous. Sister Jessica's Communist party membership made her notorious. The sisters' ideological conflict is one of many chronicled by Mary Lovell.

But there's more than conflict to this biography of the six Mitford girls and one boy. It's also a family drama and an overview of twentieth century history. Nancy, Diana, Jessica and Deborah wrote about both in biographies and novels.

Their family and connections was a goldmine for material. Jessica Mitford's books exposed the rapacious US funeral industry. There was also the revelation of the dishonesty of a so-called writing school.

Nancy Mitford was an accomplished novelist and biographer. Her work included the lives of Voltaire and Fredrick the Great. The eccentric clan also had its share of tragedies.

Lovell manages the wide ranging and complex content with skill and objectivity. Diana and Unity's friendship with Hitler and its disastrous consequences are all there. Lovell's writing is even-handed if not somewhat sympathetic to the women's plights.

Nancy's marriage to an unfaithful man was unhappy. Her affair with a prominent French man didn't end in the marriage for which she longed.

Jessica ran away with Winston Churchill's nephew. He was a pilot for the RAF in World War II and became a war casualty. Jessica insisted on staying in the US where she rebuilt her life and remarried.

The youngest Mitford, Deborah, became the Duchess of Cavendish. Her husband, Andrew, inherited one England's biggest estates in 1944. Crippling taxes imposed after the war forced the subdivision and sale of many estates. Deborah saved Chatsworth House house by creating an industry in farm foods and luxury items. She wrote memoirs and books about the estate.

Her life was not without tragedy: her husband battled alcoholism and four of their seven children died soon after birth.

The Mitford women lived their lives out loud, much of it in the public spotlight. Lovell has written an entertaining and enlightening insight into twentieth century history.
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