Having just finished Mary Lovell's Mitford Family biography, I’m finding myself somewhat obsessed with eccentric British aristocrats and the early 20th century. Lovell’s biography was absolutely fascinating and very thorough. This was my first introduction to the infamous Mitford family, the five sisters and one brother who achieved such fame and notoriety during the period spanning the two world wars. How remarkable that such diverse worldviews and personalities could come from the same family! 
I suppose Nancy Mitford would be considered the most famous. Her success as an author was built upon The Pursuit of Love, featuring characters largely drawn from her own family. Although Nancy considered herself a Socialist, she was really largely apolitical, especially when compared with her three sisters: Diana, Unity, and Jessica (Decca). Renowned for her beauty, Diana left her first husband, the heir to the Guiness family fortune, to become mistress (and years later, wife) of Sir Oswald Mosely, leader of the British Union of Fascists. She was imprisoned for much of World War II and deemed the most hated woman in England. Unity was perhaps the most extreme in her views. Also a Fascist, she maintained a close relationship with Hitler, which progressed from teen idol worship to a much deeper, rather ambiguous, relationship. She was rumored to be his mistress, but the truth in that has never been confirmed. When England declared war on Germany, she shot herself in the head (oddly enough she didn’t manage to kill herself, but did exhibit notable brain damage for the rest of her life). 
Decca, the rebel of the family, moved to America and became a Communist. She would later also write a novel based heavily upon her family and also a stunning expose of the funeral industry in America. Pamela, the second oldest, was probably the least famous. She is described as the most “rural” Mitford, and preferred spending time caring for her farm in the country. 
Debo, the youngest, married Andrew, who would become the Duke of Devonshire.
I love reading a good biography, especially one that is well-written and reads more like a novel, which this one does. Not only did I learn so much about this individual family, but I discovered so many things I did not know about that critical time period. Reading this book has also added immensely to my already lengthy reading list. Now I must read The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, and this collection of letters between Nancy and her good friend Evelyn Waugh. While I’m at it, I have a burning desire to reread Brideshead Revisited, as well as Vile Bodies, which I’ve never read, but Waugh later in life admitted to being based upon the lifestyle of Diana Mitford (whom he also confessed to being in love with, although she never returned his affections) and her first husband, Bryan Guiness. I was also so intrigued with Unity, even though her worldview was so despicable, that I want to read her individual biography as well. 
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