Book report 23 By A. Bae Hel
The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters
Laura Thompson
Previously published as Take Six Girls
In general biographies are not my thing, but after reading (or rather listening to) this one I may change my perspective.
The Mitfords were a family of the aristocrat class born into the early 20th century. Six girls and one boy, they were a part of the bright young things on the 1920 -1930s society in Britian between the wars. The interwar years with the rise of fascism, communism and the Spanish civil war was a hotbed of evolving fanatism for those recently through the horrors of WWI and for those coming of age with apparently very little insight.
The sisters included one novelist, two supporters of Nazism, one devout communist, one farmer and one Dutchess. The story of their bonds and their fallouts along with the political climate in Britian in the 1930s is a fascinating story. Published in 2026 it is written with an eye on current rises in fascism and is a captivating description from their letters and writings on how people can blind themselves to a charismatic leader despite the evidence before them. It is also a story of women and their lives bound to men to obtain relevance in the society of the day.
I was riveted to their story and ended up going down the rabbit holes of each of the sisters to discover some very long lives the last dying in 2014. In addition, most of the sisters became writers, which opens up a whole new direction of books I knew nothing about. A win all around.
If you ever wonder how Hitlerism and the obvious comparison today can come to arise, this book provides a good deal of insight.
I will rave about this book to anyone.
The Pursuit of Love
Nancy Mitford
After finishing the biography, I was compelled to see if Nancy Mitford was as good a writer as her press of the times said, and I am happy to say, she was. A prolific writer, her early works took the life of her family as the inspiration for her novels. This was the best seller incorporating love, family and the upper class, all wrapped up with a wit and satire of the times.
Despite the years, there remain parallels to the course of women in our current day. 1930s did not offer women much in the way of options, and there were few to remain respectable. Attachment to a man was paramount for the family girls in the story, however the seeking of love does not always run smooth, and unsuitable men were routinely the fault of the women attached. As still happens today, women are to blame; and Nancy Mitford blends her own family intrigues into her story.
An excellent addition to reading the biography, and a wonderful rendition of seeking love yesterday, today and tomorrow. The only objection I have is due to my own limitations with the French language. As French was an essential part of the upper class education, there is more French in the book than I can know from cereal box reading, however even with the missing bit the story retained its appeal.
