Mary S. Lovell «The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family»

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Автор Mary S. Lovell

Further Praise for The Sisters

“The Mitfords’ stories have been told over and over again, but . . . Lovell, utilizing previously unseen documents, explores the relationships between the sisters . . . and presents the utter ‘fun’ of this privileged but madcap family. ”

—Allen Weakland, Booklist

“A captivating read. ”

—Amy Strong, Library Journal

“Lovell deftly weaves together the various strands of her subjects’ lives, making great use of letters, interviews and unpublished correspondence, as well as interviews with the two surviving Mitford sisters, Diana and Deborah. ”

—Matthew Price, Newsday

“[An] absorbing and delightful biography of the Mitford family. ”

—Ann Hellmuth, Chicago Tribune

“Lovell rises with aplomb to the challenges of a group biography, deftly weaving together the narrative threads of six at times radically disparate lives to create a fascinating account of a fascinating family. ”

—Publishers Weekly

“This biography presents a fascinating family to a new generation of readers. ”

—Lisa Levy, Entertainment Weekly

Biographies by Mary S. Lovell

Straight on till Morning: The Biography of Beryl Markham

The Sound of Wings: The Biography of Amelia Earhart

Cast No Shadow:

The Spy Who Changed the Course of World War II

A Scandalous Life: The Biography of Jane Digby

The Splendid Outcast: The African Short Stories of Beryl Markham

A Rage to Live: A Biography of Richard and Isabel Burton

THE

SISTERS

The Saga of the

Mitford Family

Mary S. Lovell

W. W. Norton & Company

New York—London

First published as a Norton paperback 2003

Originally published in England under the title

The Mitford Girls: The Biography of an Extraordinary Family

Printed in the United States of America

For information about permission to reproduce selections from

this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. ,

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

Manufacturing by Quebecor Fairfield

Ebook conversion by Erin Campbell, TIPS Technical Publishing, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lovell, Mary S.

[Mitford girls]

The sisters: the saga of the Mitford family / Mary S. Lovell. —1st

American ed.

p. cm.

Originally published: The Mitford girls. London : Little, Brown, 2001.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-393-01043-0

1. Mitford family. 2. Mitford, Nancy, 1904–1973. 3. Mitford, Jessica,

1917– 4. Mitford, Unity, 1914–1948. 5. Great Britain—Biography.

I. Title.

CT787. M57 L68 2002

920. 72’0941—dc21 2001044942

ISBN 0-393-32414-1 pbk.

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10110

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

234567890

This book is for

Graeme, Shari, Robyn and Imogen

With all the love in the world

Contents

Family Tree

Introduction

1 Victorian Roots, 1894–1904

2 Edwardian Afternoon, 1904–15

3 Nursery Days, 1915–22

4 Roaring Twenties, 1922–9

5 Bright Young Things, 1929–30

6 The Stage is Set, 1930–32

7 Slings and Arrows, 1932–4