BOTM: The Mitford sisters, ed. C. Mosley, Letters between six sisters (2007)
T. Gooley, How to read water (2016)
N. Mitford, The Pursuit of Love (1945)
--------, Love in a Cold Climate (1949)
--------, Madame de Pompadour (1954)
--------, Don't tell Alfred (1960)
J. Mitford, Hons and Rebels (1960)
L. Spinney, Pale Rider (2017)
P. Vogler, Scoff: a history of food and class in Britain (2020)
This all got rather out of hand. By coincidence I asked for (and got) Hons and rebels and Madame de Pompadour at Christmas and then it rather snowballed. I've resisted Mitfordania for ages, so I wasn't really expecting to fall into such temptation. I think I'm out now. I'm just reading Diana's memoirs and then I'm done. They were clearly all mad, except possibly for the Duchess of Devonshire, and mostly dreadful to be around, except definitely for the Duchess of Devonshire. The most famous, and best bits, are the early family accounts because the domestic scene are even more bonkers than the rest and have all the family riffing off each other.
As most of the reading was Nancy, I can confirm that the critical view is right. Her later work does decline fast and by 1960, it's Powellian in its failure to really grasp what it going on. The Pursuit of Love is great though. However, I enjoyed the letters best. They are a slog at over 800 pages, but they give the panorama of the relationships, and are almost merciless in what they reveal about the protagonists. None of them (save, predictably, the Duchess of Devonshire) come out well. With many thanks to K, who recommended them.
