Ik heb deze recensie in het Engels geschreven omdat ik het boek in het Engels heb gelezen.

A pretty remarkable biography of the notorious Mitford girls. What made this biography so interesting is the description of the mood and sense of separation that divided life of the highest classes in England from the rest of the population in the interbellum, especially in the middle ‘30’s. I was amazed to read that it was quite common for the British higher classes to express a certain liking for the fascist cause in Germany. Many a nobleman called Hitler affectionately ‘the Hun’. Hitler was considered a strong leader and many found it regretful that England lacked such a strong man to arrange, for example, for a substantial reduction of the unemployed as Hitler was doing in Germany. I had to think of the duke in ‘The Remains of the Day’ of Ishiguri. I never realised that this duke was not an exception to the rule, although there are more examples, such as the abdicated King Edward and his wife Wallis Simpson, who were both great friends of Hitler and his clique. This sentiment of admiration to the German cause prevailed even to just before the official declaration of war.

Now on to the Mitford family, this was exactly the sentiment of the parents of the Mitford girls. Mother Sydney Mitford was a champion of the fascist cause and even a good friend of Hitler. She travelled to Germany often, usually taking with her a few of the girls. Eventually, all the girls had met Hitler personally one time or another, had tea parties at his house and were invited to all sorts of Nazi manifestations, like the notorious Nazi Party Day in Nuremburg, opening of the Olympic Games and the yearly Wagner festivals. It is a very strange coincidence that the Mitford family was related to the Churchill family. Mother Sydney was a sister of Clementine, wife of Churchill, and they were very close. Incredible to realise that the Mitfords were, consequently, closely in contact with Churchill as well as Hitler.

As was the normal situation for children of the highest classes in England, children were not attending schools, but educated at home. Strange to think that Nancy, who became a very celebrated novelist, had only one year of formal education. Still, the Mitford girls were very passionate about their separate ideas. So let me shortly introduced you to the girls. Two girls were fanatical fascists, t.w. the beautiful Diana and the rather goofy Unity (second name: Valkyrie!). Unity even moved to Munich to be close to Hitler and was great friends with him. Then there was Jessica, who became a staunch communist and moved to America. Pamela was leaning towards for the fascist cause, but was otherwise quiet compared to their sisters. The last sister was Deborah, a great beauty as well who married the Duke of Devonshire and lived on one of the most magnificent estates of Britain. Nancy, the novelist, was the sensible one and moved to France after the war. She was never involved in politics, in contrast to Diana who divorced her husband Guinness (yes, he of the beer emporium) and married Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the Fascist Party of Britain, a fanatical man in a fascist uniform and womanizer par excellence. Idiotic move of Diana, but she was passionate about Mosley and stayed with him until the day he died. During the war, she and Mosley were imprisonned for three years which, however, did not change their convictions.

I will not further elaborate on the ties between the sisters throughout their lives, but it makes interesting reading. I suspect it must have been pretty nerve wrecking to meet them all in a single room and spend a few hours with them, what with the secret coded private language they used with each other! People comment on that and even one co-worker of Nancy resigned from her job because she could not stand to listen to her voice!

To sum it up, I thoroughly liked the biography even if the entertainment value was a bit too much sometimes!