Review: The Mitford Affair - Marie Benedict

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The Mitfords: Six sisters who captured the maelstrom - BBC News 
 
 
 
 
 Review: The Mitford Affair - Marie Benedict - January 2023

 I don't normally enjoy reading historical fiction, but earlier this year I discovered that I love reading historical fiction based on real people and events, a bit like biographical fiction. An author who I discovered that writes a lot on this topic is Marie Benedict and I have a handful of hers to read. When it comes to the Mitford sisters, the only one I knew about because she was a writer was Nancy Mitford. I never really took much notice of her sisters, but after reading The Mitford Affair based loosely on real events, the family was an interesting bunch and for their time, the sisters were ahead of themselves. The book starts at a party which is being hosted by the eldest of the sisters Diana Mitford - Diana was married to Bryan Guiness - heir to the Guiness Beer Fortune. She ends up divorcing him for a man she calls "M" aka Oswald Mosely. Oswald is about Facism and sees himself being the British spokesperson for Hitler, Nancy is making a career for herself out of writing and feels torn between loving her sisters and her loyalty to Britain and their cousin's husband Winston Churchill, Unity fell hard and fast for Hitler and his Nazi ways and moved to Germany to be part of his party and became a spokesperson for the Nazi Party, Jessica aka Decca was strong on Communism, the other two sisters Deborah and Pamela led quieter lives compared to their sisters. Deborah became Lady Cavendish and Pamela married scientist Derek Jackson and was content with being a female farmer. The Mitford Affair focuses strongly on the lead-up to World War Two and Hitler's reign of terror, the Mitford sisters' roles during this time, and the aftermath which saw one sister in prison and another committing suicide. After reading this I fell down the rabbit hole of The Mitford Sisters as I started to research them.  One thing that I love about Marie Benedict's books is they are finally shining a spotlight on historical female figures who were normally hidden in the wings.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/442RjKk

 







 

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