Genealogy Books - The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Also Horrified
Comment: Like "Horrified" above, I was appalled by the glibness with which this book rationalized Diana's
support of fascism (and Nazism). The author treats Diana and Unity's commitment to fascism as an
understandable flaw (rather like a tendency to split infinitives or something), even going so far as
to try to play down Mosley's politics.

As someone who has read Mosley's book, I was
simply astonished at Lovell's treatment of him and Diana. Lovell mentions that people have a
tendency to fall in love with Diana and forgive her everything; clearly, that's what Lovell did.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Interesting, but a little lacking
Comment: I have always been interested in reading more about the Mitfords and, given that I am from the U.S.
and far too young to remember any of the family's political antics, I am less concerned with whether
a book is an apologia for one or another set of political beliefs than some other readers might be.
Given that the sisters took up extreme positions at opposing ends of the political spectrum (on the
one hand, Diana, the wife of England's leading fascist and Unity, the "Hitler groupie"; on the other
hand, Decca, the "parlor pink" who married, in turn, a Communist and a Jew), the author faces a
difficult balancing act in trying to devote equal time and analysis to all. As anyone who comes
from a large family knows, siblings have a way of remembering the same incidents completely
differently and this book suffers from a lot of conflicting viewpoints with, seemingly, no apparent
way to get at the truth without alienating one or more of its subjects. It appears that the author
was very dependent on the cooperation of the surviving Mitfords to write this book as it does seem
in places like the book is pandering to one sister or the other, particularly Diana who comes off as
near-saintly despite her questionable personal life and political views.

I also wish
that more space had been devoted to the life of Nancy, the author, and the Mitford son who died in
military service and seems in hindsight to have been nearly forgotten by history. As both passed
away before the book was written, one might think that the author's focus would naturally be on the
living family members, except that the author dwells at great length on the long-dead Unity's chummy
relations with Hitler and the related fascist escapades of her sister Diana. I think Nancy was a
much more interesting person than Unity overall and was disappointed at the lack of details about
Nancy's life aside from references to her unhappy marriage and her love affairs. However, the book
was still filled with interesting details and enjoyable to read, even if the focus was a bit uneven.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Star-struck
Comment: If you want your point of view to prevail, it helps to be the last survivors, and Diana and Deborah
Mitford managed that much. Yes, folks, this is yet another apologia for those jolly fascist
sympathetizers, Diana and Unity Mitford. Deborah is, luckily for her, uninterested in politics, but
she has supported Diana's poses (who-me-anti-Semitic?), which is unfortunate for this book. The
poor dumbstruck bourgeois author is thoroughly star-stuck by the glamourous Duchess and my Lady
Moseley, and so we get no insight, no judgment, and good deal of discreet mud-slinging at the
Mitford sister who was indiscreet enough to marry a Jew. Because, you know she embarrassed her
family by doing that---Unity's writing to a crappy German newspaper and declaring herself publicly
as a 'Jew-hater' pales in comparison.

Since Diana has since kicked the bucket, aged
90 (support for the notion that the good die young), only the pernicious Duchess is left to bear of
the standard of family before all. I suspect the real story of the Mitfords won't emerge until she
is no longer alive to prevent it.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Auntie Lovell disapproves
Comment: If you've read "Hons and Rebels" first and then, curious about what happened next, pick up this
tome, you're in for a nasty fall. Obviously, not everyone can be a Decca in wit and style but
Lovell's book is, to quote Decca once more, "'Woman's Own' writing". On the upside, it's
meticulously researched and draws on a wealth of previously inaccessible material, most of all
private letters. So if you're simply interested in the facts about the entire family, this is,
unfortunately, the only place to go. But the bland style and moralistic tut-tutting about Decca
(hardly ever about Diana, the unrepentent Nazi) is annoying to say the least. I couldn't agree more
with the other reviewers who pointed out that Lovell is clearly biased towards Diana and against
Decca. The whole book is, inadvertently, an example of what Decca in "Hons and Rebel" calls
"disapproving auntism". Lovell is a disapproving auntie and that shines through on every page. />Four stars for the research job but one, at most, for the judgmental author who doesn't begin to
be a match to her fascinating subjects.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A wonderfully evocative chronicle.
Comment: This English aristocratic family was undoubtedly one of the most bizarre kind.
This work has
studied and researched it's charges with empathy, passion and objectivity.
The chronology is
wisely structured and written with effervescent and engaging script.
One feels both the
central characters, the decades and the life philosophies come vividly to life.
It is honest
and non judgemental, sympathetic while avoiding sycofance. An engaging insight into a fascicnating
family, interesting times and a lost world.

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