Favourite novels and comfort reading - shortest possible description of a great passion of mine: Nancy Mitford and her work.
And then shortly behind, all the Mitford family - they are a bunch of very different people. The only brother died too early, but would have been as interesting as his 5 sisters, I am sure.
Nancy is the oldest of the siblings and started early to write to earn some money - she always suffered under the fact, that she never attended a school, but was taught at home, which means, she read the library up and down and did little else. She started to become a real writer when she moved to Paris, out of love - and stayed there ever after, even after the love of her life, the "Colonel" in her most famous novel, did marry somebody else. They settled down for a cosy friendship and she went on to love Paris and buy dresses at Christian Dior.
What I like in her novels is the depiction of the high society in England and France, preWWII and in the 1950ies and 60ies - too blissfull to not know. Duff Cooper, among other things english Ambassador to Paris in the 1950ies, was a great fan of her novels and then later her historic biographies, which are only little known - which is very unfair, as they are not only a great read, but also very good researched. ( I studied history, so believe me here for once!) She always loves her subjects and therefore we own her some of the most amusing and understanding biographies about Louis XIV, the Marquise de Pompadour, the lovestory between Voltaire and Mme de Chatelet - and a wonderful understanding biography about Frederic the Great. Especially the biographies are rare to find nowadays - I bought the Voltaire after much looking for it in the internet. Frederik and "Pomp", as she called her, are available at Penguins.
But there is good news: I have had a good dive on Amazon and the novels and even the biographies (!!!) are due to be published again - hurra!
Now for a short introduction to her novels. I cannot say, which one I love more, they are all delightful. Important to know is, that they are always told from the point of view of Fanny, a mousy cousin, who has been left behind by her mother as a baby to grow up with an aunt and who always spend her holidays with her delightful cousins in the countryside - they grow up together. Through all the novels the figure of Fanny tells us the stories and we can follow her way in life too, becoming a wife and mother and, in the last novel, wife of the english Ambassador in Paris in the 1960ies - with all included....
The Pursuit of Love is more or less a history of Nancy´s english childhood in disguise: the Radleys, their apparently always unheated countryhouse Alconleigh, in the center Linda and her life, from being a debutante, marrying the wrong man twice and finding love - I will not tell more not to spoil the pleasure in reading... Wonderfully witty and lovely english...
Love in a Cold Climate is the story of the beautiful Polly, her grand and very important parents and her cousin, the equally beautiful Cedric, who refers to himself as "One" and knows all about antiques and facecreams. The description of the dinner parties at the country house in the 1930ies is one out of 1000.
The Blessing is a story of an "english rose", Grace, getting married to a french marquis and the ups and downs of this marriage in the Paris of the 1950/60ies. Delightful descriptions of dinnerparties and the Beau Monde in Paris at that time - or of a holiday in the summer in the family house in the south of France.
Don´t tell Alfred finally is the story of the couple Fanny and Alfred as ambassadors in the 1960ies in Paris - many of the old faces are in here again and it is hilarious and a must read for every diplomat in the world. Actually, those were the good times I so often refer to...
These are her main novels, all to be found in a great Nancy Mitford Omnibus by Penguin. There are some others which have been reedited, I must admit, that I did not read them, mostly earlier books, two or three. But I have read more or less everything by her and about her. For a biography of herself, I would suggest the Biography written by Harold Acton after her death - he was a part in her set and knew her very well. He also "understood" her, which is not always the case in biographies.
Another book, which gives an insight in the family and the relations with her sisters and the beloved brother Tom are the Letters of the Mitford Sisters - a wonderful read in itself! As one sister was the beautiful Diana, first married to a Guiness, then falling in love with Sir Oswald Mosley; another was Decca, a convinced communist, married to a chap who went to the Spanish Civil War, became a widow and left to live in America; Unity was a devouted follower of Hitler and shot herself when she understood, what was going on; Pam, a great house and Horse woman; the youngest is Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. A broad variety indeed. And a history of England at its best, in numberless letters, often so witty and hilaroius, making jokes when they are sad and just carrying on - indeed the best of british, I `d say.
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