I was first introduced to the Mitford sisters by the brilliantly funny and exceptionally well-written Pursuit of Lovewritten by sister Nancy. I'm a complete Anglophile, so reading this hilarious account of the lives of the slightly impoverished English gentry was a thrill for me. Then, a few months ago, the son of another sister, Diana, was in the news for having to resign his job because he made the unfortunate mistake of letting a video of himself dressed in a military commanders outfit, counting off in German during a BDSM scene. Now, I'm all for people wanting to do what they want in their private lives, but the unfortunate thing for Mr. Max Mosley, he was both the boss of Formula 1 racing, and the son of Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Fascist Party. I recognized the name Mitford from the article, and went to do more reading, and was quickly intrigued to learn that not only were Mr. Mosley's parents married in Germany with Hitler and Goebbels present, his aunt, Unity Mitford, had had an extremely close friendship with Hitler in the years running up to the Second World War.

So, when I returned home and found a copy of The Mitford Girlsby Mary S. Lovell, I knew I had to read it, and before I knew it, I'd finished the entire 400+ pages in one day. The Mitford sisters (Nancy, Pam, Diana, Unity, Decca, and Debo) are fascinating women for their time and social class, and this biography brings them to life and gives insight into each sister's personality while simultaneously being an entertaining read.

Nancy, as I've already mentioned, was an accomplished writer, as was her sister, Decca, who married the nephew of Winston Churchill, became an avowed Communist, fought for civil rights in America, became a best-selling sociological author, and managed to become a professor - all without ever having been formally educated. Pam, the quiet sister, lead her own life, Diana, the famed beauty of her era became entangled in a scandalous divorce, affair, secret marriage, and as already mentioned, was active in the British fascist movement. Unity became a close friend to Hitler, and Debo became (through family tragedy) the Duchess Cavendish, and proprietress of the famed Chatsworth House in England.

Lovell draws upon formerly inaccessible materials (private letters and diaries), as well as interviews with the surviving sisters and their loved ones to present a balanced but fascinating look into the lives of these extraordinary women, while remaining conscious of the effect their actions had upon each other (Diana and Decca remained fiercely at odds over their extremely different political ideologies) and upon their family. Her treatment of Diana could be construed as apologetic by some, but she does take pains to demonstrate that, while Diana did support the idea of fascism and admired Hitler, she, like her brother, did not subscribe whole-heartedly and blindly to the genocidal/racial aspect of his doctrine. To me, this is a fair enough point to make, but it may well offend some.

In sum, to anyone who loves anything English, or is interested in getting inside the world of the British aristocracy at the end of its heydey, this book is a must read. It is a compelling read, and one that I found difficult to put down, and I felt almost sad to be leaving the mad world of the Mitford clan behind when I finished the book.

4/5 stars