Friday, February 2, 2007

Hons and Rebels

This Friday bonus post is in further honor of Molly Ivins. Jessica Mitford, author of Hons and Rebels, was a close friend of hers and her column remembering Decca, as she called her, is included in You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You". I actually read this book because of how highly it was recommended in a bunch of threads on Salon's Tabletalk. The book is a memoir of growing up before World War II in one of the craziest families in England. Their father was Baron Redesdale, and the family's rank contributed to the noteriety the six Mitford daughters attained, to paraphrase their mother "Every time I see the headline 'Peer's Daughter' I know one of you is in trouble" The sisters grew up to be among other things, a novelist, the Duchess of Devonshire, and a Nazi. The Mitfords' adventures make them a family for the ages.

1 comment:

Peter said...

Hi. I was led to your site by a Google Alert for new references to Jessica Mitford.

You may be interested to know that my book "Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford" was issued by Knopf in October and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the U.K. in November. It is, in essence, a biography in letters of this amazing woman.

Anyone interested in learning more can find information on the book, including some sample letters and excerpts from reviews, at my web site, www.peterysussman.com.

Peter Sussman