From the left: Jessica, Nancy, Diana, Unity and Pamela Mitford, pictured in 1935.
Deborah, missing from this picture, writes to Diana (one of two Nazi Mitfords) about the Mitford phenomenon. “The Mitford Girls are described, variously, as Famous Notorious Talented Glamorous Turbulent Unpredictable Celebrated Infamous Rebellious Colourful & Idiosyncratic,” she says. That seems like a good place to start.
From the left: the communist and writer, the professional snob and writer, the wife of Oswald Mosley (British fascist), the Nazi who tried to commit suicide when Britain and Germany went to war, and the not-so-famous one. Deborah (not on the photo) became the Duchess of Devonshire. They were the daughters of the Baron and Baroness Redesdale, born between 1904 (Nancy) and 1920 (Deborah). Their upbringing was not unusual for the class and time: as girls they never went to school, but were ‘educated’ at home. Their brother did enjoy a more formal education, but was killed in Burma in 1945. They were the infamous ‘It’ girls of their time. Nancy, a moderate socialist, separated from her husband and moved to Paris at the end of WWII to be with Colonel Gaston Palewski. She was the author of the glossary of aristocratic language that fuelled the debate about U and non-U language, and of novels and biographies. Diana left her rich husband (a Guinness from the brewing family) in the society scandal of the year for Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Fascist Party. They were both interned in Holloway Prison during the War. 
Unity was fascinated by Hitler and persuaded her parents to allow her to go to Germany, ostensibly to learn the language. Once in Munich she began to hang around the cafes frequented by Hitler, and soon managed to meet him. He was quite struck by her Aryan appearance, and they formed a friendship. She shot herself in the head at the outbreak of war, but survived. She had to be cared for by her mother for the rest of her life, dying of pneumonia when she was just 33. Jessica was the ‘red sheep’ of the family. She eloped with a nephew of Winston Churchill to work in the Spanish Civil War, emigrated to the US, worked there for civil rights and also published books, her most famous being The American Way of Death about the funeral industry.
So why my interest? Well, I’m re-reading Alan Bennett’s little satire The Uncommon Reader and decided to follow the path that led the Queen to her fascination with the written word. I really couldn’t fancy Ivy Compton-Burnett (the Queen didn’t like her much either), but I have now read The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. It was hugely enjoyable, very, very funny indeed. Thankfully, I finished it quickly, as it was not a book I would have wanted to be seen reading: the Penguin version makes it look like the most abhorrent kind of Chick-Lit, all pastel tones and curly writing (note: avoid books with pastel coloured covers, pictures of a pair of female legs, or anything with the name Kinsella on it). I mean just look: too horrific!
The story is a fictionalised version of a childhood in the Mitford family, and then follows the fortunes of Julia who seems to be a composite figure of herself and Jessica. I found the first part, the childhood section, particularly fascinating. The girls grew up as a kind of isolated tribe, and Ms Mitford captures that mix of fierce loyalty to one another, with private jokes and language, and fierce competition between each other at the same time. Can you imagine growing up with five sisters? And is there any other situation where you are part of a group that is characterised by absolute loyalty to one another but within the group there is such a competitive spirit as between siblings?
