The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
First edition
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| Author |
Charlotte Mosley (editor) Deborah Mitford Diana Mitford Jessica Mitford Nancy Mitford Unity Mitford Pamela Mitford |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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2007 |
| Media type | Hardback and paperback |
| Pages | 834 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 148887247 |
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters is a 2007 book of selected letters between the Mitford sisters. The book was edited by Diana Mitford's daughter-in-law, Charlotte Mosley. An estimated five percent of letters between the six sisters were included in the 834 page publication. The book was published by HarperCollins.
Carefree, revelatory and intimate, this selection of unpublished letters between the legendary Mitford sisters dances with wit, passion and heartbreak. The letters not only chronicle the idiosyncrasies of the twentieth century, but chart the stormy relationship between six uniquely gifted women. There's Nancy, the scalding wit and best selling novelist; Pamela, who craved a quiet country life; Diana, the fascist jailed during the Second World War; Unity, whose obsession with Hitler led to her demise, Jessica, the runaway communist; and Deborah, the socialite who became Duchess of Devonshire.
The book was well received both critically and commercially. In particular previously held perceptions were challenged. India Knight wrote in the Sunday Times; "we didn’t really know them especially well, it turns out. Jessica was not that good; Diana briefly sinister but also clever, kind, fatally loyal to her Blackshirt husband, Oswald Mosley, and so on." The book was serialized by The Washington Post.
"Although the Mitfords’ letters refer to some world-shaking events, their irresistible appeal comes from the way they invite us into the closed family circle. This volume is so overflowing with nicknames and private jokes that it resembles a glittering novel about privileged sophisticates." Caryn James, The New York Times
"Even as talented families go, the Mitford sisters are remarkable — the most brilliant pride of literary lionesses to have emerged in England since the Brontes, who also had little or no formal education. Four of the sisters were published writers of wit and substance, and, as this collection of their letters to one another demonstrates, all six could write evocatively, even hauntingly." Mindy Aloff, The Washington Post
"Brilliantly edited ... 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
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