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Muv: The Story of the Mitford Girls' Mother
'
[A] clear-eyed portrait of the woman whose lot it was to be the mother of the rebellious Mitford daughters
' – Daily Mail (Book of the Week)
' Intriguing and informative ' – Nicky Haslam, The Oldie
'Rachel Trethewey has done the seemingly impossible in a book about the she has found something original to say, thanks to her excellent scholarship, and has written Muv's story exceptionally well.' – Simon Heffer, author of Sing As We Britain Between the Wars
Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, these are the flamboyant Mitford Girls, the Bright Young Things who defined their era. The trials, tribulations and outrageous escapades of these six controversial sisters continue to fascinate us. Yet what about the seventh and arguably most vital Mitford woman of them all – their mother?
Sydney Redesdale, known as 'Muv', is often portrayed as different from her daughters – outside of that exclusive girl gang. Without doubt, she was a divisive character, her daughters squabbling about the 'real Muv' for even longer than they argued about their political differences. They could never was she a scapegoat or saint, mother or manager? Even later biographers couldn't quite pin her just who was this elusive woman who nurtured such colourful children?
How could these exceptional daughters have sprung from such apparently ordinary parents? In reality, Sydney was far from 'ordinary': she was the original Mitford girl, from whom much of her daughters' legendary strong will, self-confidence and extremism was born. Set against the backdrop of a country and a family divided, the story of her life – one of eccentricity, tragedy and resilience – is told here in full for the first time.
' Intriguing and informative ' – Nicky Haslam, The Oldie
'Rachel Trethewey has done the seemingly impossible in a book about the she has found something original to say, thanks to her excellent scholarship, and has written Muv's story exceptionally well.' – Simon Heffer, author of Sing As We Britain Between the Wars
Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, these are the flamboyant Mitford Girls, the Bright Young Things who defined their era. The trials, tribulations and outrageous escapades of these six controversial sisters continue to fascinate us. Yet what about the seventh and arguably most vital Mitford woman of them all – their mother?
Sydney Redesdale, known as 'Muv', is often portrayed as different from her daughters – outside of that exclusive girl gang. Without doubt, she was a divisive character, her daughters squabbling about the 'real Muv' for even longer than they argued about their political differences. They could never was she a scapegoat or saint, mother or manager? Even later biographers couldn't quite pin her just who was this elusive woman who nurtured such colourful children?
How could these exceptional daughters have sprung from such apparently ordinary parents? In reality, Sydney was far from 'ordinary': she was the original Mitford girl, from whom much of her daughters' legendary strong will, self-confidence and extremism was born. Set against the backdrop of a country and a family divided, the story of her life – one of eccentricity, tragedy and resilience – is told here in full for the first time.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 18, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
November 2, 2025
For anyone with interest in the Mitford girls, this is a must read. I patiently await “Farve”!
February 8, 2026
The infamous Mitford Girls have had numerous outings, both in fiction and non-fiction, but this is the first biography dedicated to their mother, Lady Redesdale (born Sydney Bowles) and it helps to fill in the background to the extraordinary chequered lives of her infamous six daughters.
The book’s cover shows “Muv”, as she was called by her family, as a young woman. There is much to be gleaned from the haughtiness of that image; this was not a woman to be messed with, someone who had fixed ideas about social behaviour and, as it turns out, was uncompromising, hypercritical and rigid in her political opinions. In turn, one learns about her father, Thomas Bowles, a man of his own convictions, self-made, successful and also a “maverick”, and the greatest influence on her life.
Muv married the eccentric David Freeman-Mitford (“Farve”), who later inherited the baronage of Redesdale, and they had six daughters and just one son. The couple were parodied by three of their daughters in a number of famous novels but they also created controversy through their support of fascism in Europe, and a close connection to Adolf Hitler.
For anyone who has read extensively about the Mitford Girls, much of this will already be familiar territory, but it is interesting to observe the dynamics of a family that clashed violently with one another over a range of extremist views, be it racism, antisemitism, communism, or fascism.
Although there were estrangements, it is extraordinary to see how Muv did her best to juggle her unruly family. Unity – whom she looked after for several years after a failed suicide attempt - is perhaps the most tragic figure. Given the full name of Unity Valkyrie Mitford and conceived at a place called Swastika, Ontario, Canada, it seems she was doomed by some bizarre fate to be linked to Hitler!
Muv isn’t likeable, and her unwavering support of Hitler, her views on “ugly” Jews and poor people can make one wince. One might even think of her as stupid when she simply refused to ever have her mind changed by events, even the deaths of two of her children linked to the Second World War. As the author states:
“Sydney was not stupid; it was her judgement not her intelligence which was at fault. Her obstinate refusal to reassess situations in the light of incontrovertible evidence, alongside her entrenched prejudices and her misguided loyalty, made her hold onto pernicious attitudes which had proved catastrophic on both a global and personal scale. As so often in her life, she only saw what she wanted to see and tightly shut her eyes to anything which might contradict her worldview.”
A most intriguing woman, and a book definitely recommended for anyone with a curiosity about who influenced the Mitford Girls and made them into such memorable figures.
(My only quibble is the naming inconsistency in the narrative, with paragraphs calling her Muv in one sentence, Sydney in the next, and Lady Redesdale in the following.)
https://www.marinamaxwellauthor.com/b...
The book’s cover shows “Muv”, as she was called by her family, as a young woman. There is much to be gleaned from the haughtiness of that image; this was not a woman to be messed with, someone who had fixed ideas about social behaviour and, as it turns out, was uncompromising, hypercritical and rigid in her political opinions. In turn, one learns about her father, Thomas Bowles, a man of his own convictions, self-made, successful and also a “maverick”, and the greatest influence on her life.
Muv married the eccentric David Freeman-Mitford (“Farve”), who later inherited the baronage of Redesdale, and they had six daughters and just one son. The couple were parodied by three of their daughters in a number of famous novels but they also created controversy through their support of fascism in Europe, and a close connection to Adolf Hitler.
For anyone who has read extensively about the Mitford Girls, much of this will already be familiar territory, but it is interesting to observe the dynamics of a family that clashed violently with one another over a range of extremist views, be it racism, antisemitism, communism, or fascism.
Although there were estrangements, it is extraordinary to see how Muv did her best to juggle her unruly family. Unity – whom she looked after for several years after a failed suicide attempt - is perhaps the most tragic figure. Given the full name of Unity Valkyrie Mitford and conceived at a place called Swastika, Ontario, Canada, it seems she was doomed by some bizarre fate to be linked to Hitler!
Muv isn’t likeable, and her unwavering support of Hitler, her views on “ugly” Jews and poor people can make one wince. One might even think of her as stupid when she simply refused to ever have her mind changed by events, even the deaths of two of her children linked to the Second World War. As the author states:
“Sydney was not stupid; it was her judgement not her intelligence which was at fault. Her obstinate refusal to reassess situations in the light of incontrovertible evidence, alongside her entrenched prejudices and her misguided loyalty, made her hold onto pernicious attitudes which had proved catastrophic on both a global and personal scale. As so often in her life, she only saw what she wanted to see and tightly shut her eyes to anything which might contradict her worldview.”
A most intriguing woman, and a book definitely recommended for anyone with a curiosity about who influenced the Mitford Girls and made them into such memorable figures.
(My only quibble is the naming inconsistency in the narrative, with paragraphs calling her Muv in one sentence, Sydney in the next, and Lady Redesdale in the following.)
https://www.marinamaxwellauthor.com/b...
March 3, 2026
So, a thing about nazis is that you actually don’t have to immortalize them just because they’re related to someone interesting.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about “Muv” is that she somehow managed to raise some children who grew up to be interesting and admirable despite her horrific beliefs. Who this woman was matters only such as it relates to some of her daughters, and should be treated as such.
And no, this isn’t a case of meeting someone where they were in terms of the time and value system in which they lived, because this gal was still vehemently supporting Hitler and her nazi inner circle daughter Unity well after it was VERY apparent what he was doing.
Sometimes we read about bad people because those who don’t learn and remember history are doomed to repeat it. But there’s nothing for you to learn here except that sometimes good people have very bad people as relatives.
Stick with Nancy Mitford’s wonderful novels,or biographies of other more deserving members of the family instead. Trethewey is a very good chronicler of history. There is no reason for her to be spending her time or yours on someone like this.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Perhaps the most interesting thing about “Muv” is that she somehow managed to raise some children who grew up to be interesting and admirable despite her horrific beliefs. Who this woman was matters only such as it relates to some of her daughters, and should be treated as such.
And no, this isn’t a case of meeting someone where they were in terms of the time and value system in which they lived, because this gal was still vehemently supporting Hitler and her nazi inner circle daughter Unity well after it was VERY apparent what he was doing.
Sometimes we read about bad people because those who don’t learn and remember history are doomed to repeat it. But there’s nothing for you to learn here except that sometimes good people have very bad people as relatives.
Stick with Nancy Mitford’s wonderful novels,or biographies of other more deserving members of the family instead. Trethewey is a very good chronicler of history. There is no reason for her to be spending her time or yours on someone like this.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
April 13, 2026
I really enjoyed this book, looking at the Mitfords through a different lens, that of their Mother, who remained the single thread which linked everyone, whether or not they were on " speakers" with each other. This includes Farve, who was not in contact with some of his children, Jessica in particular for all her adult life, and from whom Sidney was, in effect, separated for many years.
I, too, could not be sure, as another reviewer said, whether her political views were her own or whether it was part of her strategy to maintain her relationships with her daughters, to align with theirs.
Something that surprised me was that every daughter played her part in the story, except Pam, about whom there was scarcely a mention.
Inch Kenneth almost becomes a character in the story, being a place of retreat for Muv and perhaps her only real home. It's easy to underestimate the difficulty of travelling to the island. Even today, it would be a mission. In those days, it was the kind of journey that only wealthy people could contemplate and have sufficient resources to maintain, supply, and send laundry to Harrods! For all that, it sounds like a wonderful family home that Sidney made her own.
True, there were not many revelations that those ( like me) who have read other books on the Mitfords would not have heard before. However, the author placed these into a new and interesting context for me.
I, too, could not be sure, as another reviewer said, whether her political views were her own or whether it was part of her strategy to maintain her relationships with her daughters, to align with theirs.
Something that surprised me was that every daughter played her part in the story, except Pam, about whom there was scarcely a mention.
Inch Kenneth almost becomes a character in the story, being a place of retreat for Muv and perhaps her only real home. It's easy to underestimate the difficulty of travelling to the island. Even today, it would be a mission. In those days, it was the kind of journey that only wealthy people could contemplate and have sufficient resources to maintain, supply, and send laundry to Harrods! For all that, it sounds like a wonderful family home that Sidney made her own.
True, there were not many revelations that those ( like me) who have read other books on the Mitfords would not have heard before. However, the author placed these into a new and interesting context for me.
June 13, 2026
Read this knowing I am not reviewing the book, but rather leaving notes and asides to remind me of my readings year to year. Much of my prolific reading has been lost in terms of childhood on, but perhaps today’s children can use the tools now available and be more vigorous in their record keeping.
I need to go back to when the Mitfords first entered my life, and to the best of my memory that would be eldest sister, Nancy Mitford, and her book The Sun King published by Harper & Row in 1966. I was enchanted with her writing about life in Versailles, but, perhaps because I was young, and pre-Google, pre-Amazon, pre-everything, I didn’t seek out other books by her. Didn’t know anything about her or her family at that point.
Fast forward to a few years later. I was in London a great deal, getting to know it’s streets like a native, and I was in Foyle’s Bookstore on Charing Cross Road (they are still there, thank God), and discovered a paperback of Love in a Cold Climate with The Pursuit of Love. This edition was released following a tv series on in England at that time with Judi Dench playing the vague mother, Sadie, and her brood of wild, witty children. I snatched it up and was hooked.
It was at this point that I sought out all of the earlier novels: Don’t Tell Alfred, Wigs on the Green, Christmas Pudding, The Blessing, Pigeon Pie and biographies of Frederick the Great and Voltaire (in love) and then the biographies started appearing, including all of her sisters and the family en masse and correspondence between Nancy and Evelyn Waugh and the bookstore where Nancy worked—Heywood Hill and sister Diana’s marriage to Oswald Mosley and the fascists and sister Unity and Hitler and the attempted suicide, and on and on. The last thing I had read was a biography of the sisters, so when I saw this book on the mother, I seriously thought, “What more can they possibly tell me since all of the players are now deceased?” And I was surprised.
Yes, this edition covers the major moments in the family’s individual and conjoined lives. Brother Tom remains elusive, having died young and in WWII. That book has yet to be written. What I did gain from reading this work was much more information on the parents, their relationship and their involvement with pro-Hitler antics. Unity’s sad life is delved into a bit more, even though there is already a biography of her existence out there still. What I truly gained was a more flushed out version of the mother’s life, and her supportive father and her education (despite her own daughters receiving none) and her responsible role in always being there for her daughters through thick and thin. In essence, well worth the read.
I need to go back to when the Mitfords first entered my life, and to the best of my memory that would be eldest sister, Nancy Mitford, and her book The Sun King published by Harper & Row in 1966. I was enchanted with her writing about life in Versailles, but, perhaps because I was young, and pre-Google, pre-Amazon, pre-everything, I didn’t seek out other books by her. Didn’t know anything about her or her family at that point.
Fast forward to a few years later. I was in London a great deal, getting to know it’s streets like a native, and I was in Foyle’s Bookstore on Charing Cross Road (they are still there, thank God), and discovered a paperback of Love in a Cold Climate with The Pursuit of Love. This edition was released following a tv series on in England at that time with Judi Dench playing the vague mother, Sadie, and her brood of wild, witty children. I snatched it up and was hooked.
It was at this point that I sought out all of the earlier novels: Don’t Tell Alfred, Wigs on the Green, Christmas Pudding, The Blessing, Pigeon Pie and biographies of Frederick the Great and Voltaire (in love) and then the biographies started appearing, including all of her sisters and the family en masse and correspondence between Nancy and Evelyn Waugh and the bookstore where Nancy worked—Heywood Hill and sister Diana’s marriage to Oswald Mosley and the fascists and sister Unity and Hitler and the attempted suicide, and on and on. The last thing I had read was a biography of the sisters, so when I saw this book on the mother, I seriously thought, “What more can they possibly tell me since all of the players are now deceased?” And I was surprised.
Yes, this edition covers the major moments in the family’s individual and conjoined lives. Brother Tom remains elusive, having died young and in WWII. That book has yet to be written. What I did gain from reading this work was much more information on the parents, their relationship and their involvement with pro-Hitler antics. Unity’s sad life is delved into a bit more, even though there is already a biography of her existence out there still. What I truly gained was a more flushed out version of the mother’s life, and her supportive father and her education (despite her own daughters receiving none) and her responsible role in always being there for her daughters through thick and thin. In essence, well worth the read.
May 14, 2026
Sydney was a woman with many faults, but her dedication to maintaining relationships with her children was not one of them.
Sydney had an unusual childhood without a mother and an eccentric father. She ran her father's home, but that home was mainly aboard a ship. Sydney's family endorsed curiosity and relentless thinking/reaching. Traits she would pass to her children.
Sydney's sympathy for Unity, Diana, and, therefore, Hitler, destroyed her life. Unity attempted suicide, which left her incontinent with the intellectual level of a child. Diana was in prison for years during WWII as a Nazi sympathizer, Tom was killed in action, and this caused a permanent separation from her husband.
Through it all, Sydney did all she could to maintain her family. She met her daughters where they were, avoided subjects that caused strain, and did all she could to support them.
This book gives a lot of little personality quirks for each sister. Even though Decca and Nancy complained about their lack of formal education, all the Mitford girls (minus Unity for obvious reasons) became successful people: the four all wrote books and were thought leaders for a variety of reasons.
My biggest, most obvious complaint is that Trethewey did not use the women's nicknames. It's weird that Decca referred to as Jessica and Debo as Deborah.
Sydney had an unusual childhood without a mother and an eccentric father. She ran her father's home, but that home was mainly aboard a ship. Sydney's family endorsed curiosity and relentless thinking/reaching. Traits she would pass to her children.
Sydney's sympathy for Unity, Diana, and, therefore, Hitler, destroyed her life. Unity attempted suicide, which left her incontinent with the intellectual level of a child. Diana was in prison for years during WWII as a Nazi sympathizer, Tom was killed in action, and this caused a permanent separation from her husband.
Through it all, Sydney did all she could to maintain her family. She met her daughters where they were, avoided subjects that caused strain, and did all she could to support them.
This book gives a lot of little personality quirks for each sister. Even though Decca and Nancy complained about their lack of formal education, all the Mitford girls (minus Unity for obvious reasons) became successful people: the four all wrote books and were thought leaders for a variety of reasons.
My biggest, most obvious complaint is that Trethewey did not use the women's nicknames. It's weird that Decca referred to as Jessica and Debo as Deborah.
Review of advance copy
Lady Sydney Redesdale, formerly Sydney Bowles, was the mother of the Mitford brood. I would say Mitford girls, but there was one son, who sadly died in WWII. Married to David Mitford, they had a large family: Nancy, Pamela, Thomas, Diana, Unity, Jessica (Decca), and Deborah.
Nancy was, of course, a famous novelist, while Diana and Unity were infamous supporters of the Nazi party, and Jessica was a communist. With Oswald Mosley as a son-in-law, interned during the war with Diana, and Unity shooting herself when England and Germany went to war, Sydney became all too familiar with notoriety. Even after reading this biography, I am still unsure whether Sydney was a committed fascist herself or whether she just tended to go with whatever was easiest to keep the peace. She seemed able to have tea with Hitler one minute, then applaud Jessica's efforts to support Civil Rights the next and claim she liked everyone she met. She certainly had some outlandish ideas about vaccinations, about education and politics.
Whatever the real truth, it is fair to say that Muv kept some poor company and made some poor choices. Still, this was a really interesting look at the matriarchal figure of the Mitford clan and her often difficult family relationships.
Nancy was, of course, a famous novelist, while Diana and Unity were infamous supporters of the Nazi party, and Jessica was a communist. With Oswald Mosley as a son-in-law, interned during the war with Diana, and Unity shooting herself when England and Germany went to war, Sydney became all too familiar with notoriety. Even after reading this biography, I am still unsure whether Sydney was a committed fascist herself or whether she just tended to go with whatever was easiest to keep the peace. She seemed able to have tea with Hitler one minute, then applaud Jessica's efforts to support Civil Rights the next and claim she liked everyone she met. She certainly had some outlandish ideas about vaccinations, about education and politics.
Whatever the real truth, it is fair to say that Muv kept some poor company and made some poor choices. Still, this was a really interesting look at the matriarchal figure of the Mitford clan and her often difficult family relationships.
June 28, 2026
I am a bit torn on this book because it was interesting and I will read anything about the Mitford sisters but on the other hand -- does the world need a biography of this woman? Really? She enabled her terrible daughters Unity and Diana in their terrible behavior. To my mind the most relevant thing about Sydney Redesdale is that she a case study of the proper English upper-class woman who was mildly, politely prejudiced; wouldn't have committed violence herself; but was fine with sleepwalking into supporting violence by people like, you know, Adolf Hitler, who was after all so nice to her daughters.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
This is another "out of my comfort zone" books. It is a biography, and non-fiction - so, Brava to me! Now, why pick this biography? Because I know quite a bit about the Mitford Girls and their very unusual lives, but none of the biographical, historical fiction books about them seem to include all that much about their mother. So, I was curious to learn more about the woman who raised them. Well, it was fascinating.
My full review can be found here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2026/02/1...
My full review can be found here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2026/02/1...
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I listened to this audiobook over a couple of days and found it wildly fascinating.
I went into this book not knowing anything about the Mitford Girls and their eccentric family.
While many can dispute the ethics of Muv's political ideologies and other strongly held beliefs, I don't think any can argue that she led an extraordinary life in an extraordinary time.
The story of Muv is brilliantly entertaining and engaging. I loved it!
I received an advanced reader copy of this audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I went into this book not knowing anything about the Mitford Girls and their eccentric family.
While many can dispute the ethics of Muv's political ideologies and other strongly held beliefs, I don't think any can argue that she led an extraordinary life in an extraordinary time.
The story of Muv is brilliantly entertaining and engaging. I loved it!
I received an advanced reader copy of this audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
March 1, 2026
If you love British biographies, you'll definitely enjoy "Muv". Easy to follow and very interesting, the storytelling was mostly chronological, and the author wove in information about the famous Mitford daughters while keeping the focus on Lady Sydney. I would definitely recommend this book if you are at all interested in that period of history! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
April 13, 2026
I don't believe there's anything really groundbreaking here, but kudos to the author for her frank and unflinching exploration of Lady Redesdale's politics. If you've read Lovell and Thompson, then you know all too well that biographers tend to downplay the repellent views that Muv shared with her daughters Diana and Unity. (Everybody who was anybody was attending fascist rallies! Antisemitism was simply period-typical! What about the red menace? Etc, etc.) Trethewey is refreshingly candid about Lady Redesdale's wholehearted embrace of you-know-who, and she has brought plenty of receipts.
June 16, 2026
I was fascinated by the story of the Mitford sisters ( and their brother) told through the biography of their mother. Excellent scholarship and a very readable style takes the reader behind the headlines of upper class England in pre-World-War times.
I had to look up a lot of dates, places, and words as the complex storyline involves so many people.
I also had to request Diana Mosley's book on the Duchess of Windsor.
Fascinating.
I had to look up a lot of dates, places, and words as the complex storyline involves so many people.
I also had to request Diana Mosley's book on the Duchess of Windsor.
Fascinating.
December 26, 2025
As the famous "Mother of the Mitford sisters" Sydney had quite a bit to live up to. This is a straight old-school biography, might have worked better as narrative non fiction. I skipped the last couple of chapters, since I was not fully engaged, just too many citations and "...as her granddaughter-in-law described her..." passages
May 14, 2026
This is not a mother and daughter story analogous to Marmee and the March girls. Muv is a well researched book of the formidable Mitfords, with Sydney Mitford , Muv, at the helm. Well written, never tedious, each Mitford woman finds her place in the world although many choices and alliances are misguided.
May 26, 2026
Hard to imagine that there is a story left to tell about the Mitford sisters, but this is it: their mother’s. Entertaining but repetitive. If I’d read one more time that Muv was the model for Aunt Sadie in one of Nancy’s novels, I was ready to toss the book. Also hard to read was Muv’s somewhat glossed over affinity for Nazis.
March 10, 2026
I think it has all been said before...It makes the reader loather the aristocracy and be appalled that the. gentry make decisions int he House of Lords. I can't leave the Mitfords alone so fair enough.
April 16, 2026
A jolly good read
I particularly enjoyed this book as having read various books about the Mitford sisters, it gave an insight into how their lives affected one another and their mother.
I particularly enjoyed this book as having read various books about the Mitford sisters, it gave an insight into how their lives affected one another and their mother.
September 2, 2025
A fantastic portrayal of a very unique and complicated women. The writer gives an honest and yet sympathetic account of her life and family. A wonderful read.
March 27, 2026
Very well researched and very well written. Have always been fascinated with the Mitfords. Excellent!
April 16, 2026
After the many books I've read about the Mitford daughters, it was very nice to read this biography of their mother. What a character!
May 18, 2026
A very interesting family that I knew nothing about and really wasted my time on!!
May 26, 2026
ok but not great
it was ok but I found discrepancies which made me question the research that went into this. interesting story though.
it was ok but I found discrepancies which made me question the research that went into this. interesting story though.
June 12, 2026
Not much that I haven't already read but a lovely wallow in the Mitford family again.
July 9, 2026
Liked the writing, story just not what I expected.
April 12, 2026
I've been fascinated by the story of the Mitford sisters and when I learned about this book I thought it would be interesting to learn about their mother. It was an interesting book but parts of it were tedious and too long.
April 9, 2026
This left me conflicted.
Rich people behaving badly, fiction or not, is usually my jam. I like the exploration of what is goes on behind the curtains to impact how people behave.
There was something about this family whose “bad” felt too close to political attitudes that I’m seeing today. Probably why it was hard for me to be able to hear about the dark side of this family without cringing
Rich people behaving badly, fiction or not, is usually my jam. I like the exploration of what is goes on behind the curtains to impact how people behave.
There was something about this family whose “bad” felt too close to political attitudes that I’m seeing today. Probably why it was hard for me to be able to hear about the dark side of this family without cringing
October 3, 2025
Fascinating! Full of new details about the famous Mitford family. One feels sorry for "Muv" at times, at other times one is angry at her, but she's brought alive on the page, and it's wonderful to read about historical events via Muv's letters and decisions.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews