THE MITFORDS:
Letters Between Six Sisters,
edited by Charlotte Mosley

 

Date of First Publication: 2007

The Mitfords: 
Letters Between Six Sisters 
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Revelatory and intimate, this selection of letters between the legendary Mitford sisters dances with wit, passion and heartbreak. The letters not only chronicle the key events of the 20th century, but also chart the stormy relationship between six uniquely gifted women. There’s Nancy and her sisters Pamela, who craved a quiet country life; Diana, the fascist jailed during the Second World War; Unity whose obsession with Hitler led to her demise; Jessica, the runaway fighter for social change; and Deborah, who became the Duchess of Devonshire.

CRITIQUE QUOTES:

‘The story of the Mitford sisters has never been told as well as they tell it themselves. A novelist would never get away with inventing this: a correspondence spanning eight decades, written from locations including Chatsworth and Holloway Prison, between six original and talented women who numbered among their friends Evelyn Waugh, Maya Angelou, J. F Kennedy and Adolf Hitler.’ J. K. Rowling

‘The Mitford sisters in their own voices were wonderfully funny and original, and in more than one case, superb writers. In this absorbing, funny and often very moving volume, six voices make themselves heard, as fresh as paint. A remarkable story of six remarkable personalities.’
Spectator

(Unity to Diana, 12 June 1934)
‘Such a terribly exciting thing happened yesterday. I saw Hitler. At about six last night Derek rang me up from the Carlton Teeraum & said that He was there. Of course I jumped straight into a taxi. I went & sat down with them,& there was the Führer opposite. The aunt said “You're trembling all over with excitement,” and sure enough I was, so much so that Derek had to drink my chocolate for me because I couldn't hold the cup. He sat there for 1½ hours. It was all so thrilling I can still hardly believe it. When he went he gave me a special salute all to myself.’ 

(Deborah to Nancy, November 1965) 
‘Opening of Parliament was as beautiful (& comic mixed) as ever BUT I'm sorry to say the peeresses smelt. Can't vouch for the further ones but the duchesses were definitely high. Do you think they had rolled? Surely not, I mean where could they have found anything to roll in? Their huge & dirty diamonds surmounted their huge & dirty dresses, & as for the Life Peeresses their wild grey hair had been specially tousled for the occasion, talk about dragged through a hedge backwards, but where did they find the hedge? All very mysterious.’