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ohnoflora's review against another edition
3.0
The audio version was narrated very well but I don't think I learned anything I hadn't already known. The "even handedness" irritated me as it seemed to mean giving Diana the benefit of the doubt and treating Nancy and Jessica with scepticism. The author seemed very preoccupied with the sisters' looks, particularly Diana - great emphasis was placed on her beauty, as if this was evidence of beautiful character too.
nancidrum's review against another edition
2.0
I'm being generous with my stars for this book. I knew nothing about the Mitford sisters before reading this biography. I actually had never even heard of them. After reading the intro, I almost threw in the towel, but this was for my RL book group and I always read the books, no matter how I feel about them.
This book skipped all around and for the most part I dreaded picking it up each time. Finally, a little more than half-way through things finally settled down some and it became more pleasurable instead of hard work. We will be in England soon for a trip and we'll be in the area where the family lived, so that motivated me some to keep reading, as I love reading about places I'm going to visit.
The book did not equally discuss all the sisters and I would have liked to have known more about a few of them, but please no more pages that seem to go on and on without saying that much, or maybe they said too much! In the end, I'm ok that the book focused mostly on Nancy and Diana, as I was just relieved it was over.
This book skipped all around and for the most part I dreaded picking it up each time. Finally, a little more than half-way through things finally settled down some and it became more pleasurable instead of hard work. We will be in England soon for a trip and we'll be in the area where the family lived, so that motivated me some to keep reading, as I love reading about places I'm going to visit.
The book did not equally discuss all the sisters and I would have liked to have known more about a few of them, but please no more pages that seem to go on and on without saying that much, or maybe they said too much! In the end, I'm ok that the book focused mostly on Nancy and Diana, as I was just relieved it was over.
lgiegerich's review against another edition
4.0
This whole family was fascinatingly bananas. So many interactions with Hitler by so many of them!!! Bananas.
alexandracowie's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting if overly indulgent portrait of very complex women. It is abundantly clear at times that. the author greatly admires the Mitford sisters or some aspect of what they represent, and as a result the book often shyed away from genuinely critically examining their actions. The structure was off-putting and hard to follow as it was not organised chronologically or by sister. It felt more like a well-captured vignette of "Mitfordian" life (as defined mostly by Nancy, Jessica, and Diana) than an in-depth autobiography of the six sisters.
pierke's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful group biography of Diana, Nancy, Jessica, Unity, Pamela and Deborah, in short: The Mitford Sisters. I have read most of Nancy’s work in the 70’s and recently re-read the Pursuit of Love. It lost nothing of its charm. Being familiar with Nancy’s novels and Jessica’s ‘fictionalised’ memoir Hons and Rebels, makes the reading of Laura Thompson’s book a much richer experience. But even newcomers to the subject will find it an interesting portrait of an era and the six sisters’ role in it.
Thompson places the girls in their impoverished aristocratic background, paints a portrait of the marriage and parents of the brood – there also was a brother Tom -. She goes onto describing each girl’s debutants ball and then devotes the rest of the book to what happened when those girls entered English society, at a time when the world around them slowly, but irreversibly descended into World War II.
Thompson tells their story with verve and objectiveness, never trying to exonerate their choices. The background information the reader needs to navigate the lives of these girls, is seamlessly woven into the story. For her research she interviewed the two then living sisters Diana and Deborah and some of the Mitford sister’s children. She makes use of these interviews by incorporating them in the story, together with quotes from the copious correspondence between the sisters. This enlivens the text with gems of Mitford witticisms.
The book makes for compelling reading and I would recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in the Mitfords.
Using the epub version of the book, I was rather disappointed with the index and the notes. The index was a perfect but unlinked back-of-the-book index. The notes had the same problem, they were not linked to the notes at the back of the book and if you forgot to bookmark your page, it was a hassle to get back to the page you were reading.
The audio book is read by Maggie Mash, who has a very pleasant voice. I found some of her impersonations a bit over the top.
Thompson places the girls in their impoverished aristocratic background, paints a portrait of the marriage and parents of the brood – there also was a brother Tom -. She goes onto describing each girl’s debutants ball and then devotes the rest of the book to what happened when those girls entered English society, at a time when the world around them slowly, but irreversibly descended into World War II.
Thompson tells their story with verve and objectiveness, never trying to exonerate their choices. The background information the reader needs to navigate the lives of these girls, is seamlessly woven into the story. For her research she interviewed the two then living sisters Diana and Deborah and some of the Mitford sister’s children. She makes use of these interviews by incorporating them in the story, together with quotes from the copious correspondence between the sisters. This enlivens the text with gems of Mitford witticisms.
The book makes for compelling reading and I would recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in the Mitfords.
Using the epub version of the book, I was rather disappointed with the index and the notes. The index was a perfect but unlinked back-of-the-book index. The notes had the same problem, they were not linked to the notes at the back of the book and if you forgot to bookmark your page, it was a hassle to get back to the page you were reading.
The audio book is read by Maggie Mash, who has a very pleasant voice. I found some of her impersonations a bit over the top.