The Remarkable Mitfords

Few families have produced six sisters quite like the Mitfords. They grew up amid privilege, eccentricity, private jokes and fierce loyalties, yet their adult lives took astonishingly different directions. Nancy became a novelist and biographer; Pamela preferred country life; Diana embraced British fascism; Unity became infatuated with Hitler and Nazi Germany; Jessica rebelled against her family and became a campaigning writer in America; and Deborah married into the Cavendish family and became Duchess of Devonshire.

Their politics divided them, their love lives were often dramatic, and their behaviour could be outrageous, but they were also clever, funny and wonderfully articulate. Their novels, memoirs, journalism and letters have ensured that the fascination with them has never really faded.

For me, Nancy remains the finest writer of the six. The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate are books I return to with enormous pleasure, filled with wit, sharp observation and unforgettable portraits of family life, love and English eccentricity.

Deborah’s life was very different, but no less fascinating. As Duchess of Devonshire, she became closely associated with Chatsworth and helped transform it into the flourishing estate we know today. She was also a delightful memoirist and letter writer, with a wonderfully engaging voice of her own.