Genealogy Books - The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters

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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: The Viceroys Daughters
Comment: I have always wanted to read this book. I was so pleased to find it.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Depends on your fondness for useless rich people
Comment: I read this book because I had been totally engrossed in The Sisters (otherwise known as The Mitford
Girls) by Mary Lovell, which is about the Mitford family. Seeing as the Curzons were contemporaries
of the Mitfords, with one Curzon daughter, Cimmie, even having the infamous Oswald Mosley as a
husband in common with Diana Mitford, I thought I'd be as caught up in this book as in the other.

Well, while the writing and research quality of The Viceroy's Daughters matches or
surpasses the Mitford book (which is why I give it as much as 3 stars), the lives of the Curzon
women turned me off quite a bit. The Mitford women were, with maybe one exception, all brilliant or
unusual, if often misguided, and very individual. The Curzons on the other hand except for doing
some general 'good works' for charities or in the case of the middle sister an unwavering loyalty to
a political husband (and serial womanizer) up to her early death, really did very little of much
worth. They were all immensely rich due to inheritance from a rich American mother, socially
privileged because of their father, and had not a care in the world.

The oldest sister
at least seemed to be a warm hearted auntie to her neglected nieces and nephews, but was otherwise a
sort of sad, slightly hysterical stick. The youngest was a domineering, bossy and selfish woman who
inexpicably managed to fascinate a multitude of men, who must be squirming in their graves from
their simpering love letters being aired to the public after their deaths.

It really
reminded me strongly of reading about people like Paris Hilton and other 'debs' or 'socialites' or
whatever with no reason for being written about except that they are rich and not ugly, and
wondering why people care. I guess some do. So...if you want to read about the Paris Hiltons of the
early part of the 20th century, you'll enjoy this.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A gorgeous gossip
Comment: The Curzon sisters, daughters of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of india, were famous society beauties in the
20's and 30's, swanning their ways along gilded paths of privilege, as was common among the
daughters of the aristocracy, especially during this particular era which was known as "the Long
Weekend"...the era between WW1 and WW2. Lord Curzon had married an American heiress who died young,
leaving him with the care of their three daughters and access to their huge fortunes. The eldest
Irene, never married and in her earlier years, devoted her time to fox hunting and charity works.
After the death of her sister Cimmie, she took on the responsibility of raising her children. Cimmie
married Tom Mosley, an ardent Fascist leader who was a fervent follower of Hitler, and shared her
husbands passion for Fascism. The youngest, Baba, was a typical spoilt and supremely selfish
heiress, with all the morals of a female dog on heat, even to the extent of sleeping with (among
others)her brother in law. Baba was an intimate of the new King Edward 8th and Mrs. Simpson and was
present at their wedding and at most of the goings on of the Cliveden set who represented the "in"
crowd in London society at that time. It's a fascinating look at the social history of the 20's and
30's, warts and all, and a thoroughly enjoyable gossipy read.

Customer Rating:

Summary: So true....
Comment: Unlike the Mitford girls, the Curzon sisters were essentially useless creatures, though one could
base a really good revolution on their cosseted existence and horrid antics. Upper classes in every
land produce people like them, but the English do it particularly well. I remember at lunch one day
hearing a well-known older titled lady, refer to a deceased -and very grand- noblewoman, saying,
"Yes, and _________ made the Curzon sisters look like nuns!" After reading "The Viceroy's Daughters"
I now know that the 1920s and '30s were much more wild than I ever imagined... and I was a teenager
in the 1960's!
If you enjoy the perfectly dreadful, really meaningless, but drama-filled lives
of some of society's sacred monsters, Anne de Courcy's superbly written and meticulously researched
book is just the thing.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Mediocre tale
Comment: Curzon himself was no prize, surely one of the most vainglorious men ever to walk the earth, and his
position as Viceroy of India fairly turned his head. His first wife, the American heiress Mary,
died too soon and had she lived a bit longer her influence might have prevented her three daughters
from going on in the profligate way they did. Or is that mere sentimentality? Whatever it is, it's
the crux of Anne de Courcy's listless group biography.

The author's research, while it makes for
pleasant reading, hasn't uncovered anything really new about the three unpleasant Curzon sisters.
The reader ultimately feels sympathy for the UK novelist Elinor Glyn, who wrote "It," with whom
Curzon dallied after Mary died and whom he betrayed as cavalierly as he served the people of
India.

I suppose there are readers who like Diana Mitford and who will be interested in the other
women in her husband's brutish life. They will lap this up like lackeys.

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