'THE UGLY ONE: CHILDHOOD MEMOIRS, 1913-39'

by Countess Hermione Ranfurly, illustrated (Illustrator)

Lady Hermione Ranfurly, now 84 years old, recounts her early life between the a life of great privilege but also of private tragedy. As her family moves from one estate to another, she learns how to deal with change and cope with loss - her parents' financial problems and divorce and her elder brother's death in war.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, Autobiography

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“To War with Whittaker” by the late Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly, is a superb repeat read. “The Ugly One,” which is Hermione’s account of her child- and girl-hood (predominantly in West Glamorgan and Gloucestershire) goes a very long way towards shedding light on why “To War with Whittaker” is so very good.

Some may read and dismiss “The Ugly One,” (a relatively quick read at 21 lines per page, on a page size of just 110 x 183mm), as little more than a remarkable romp through a very upper/upper-middle class existence; privileged through the accident of birth. It would be a terrible error to do so!

There certainly were some highly unusual and colourful, in addition to some very normal, characters within the families of Hermione’s parents and grandparents, not forgetting the staff of their houses & estates. They alone would make this book compulsive reading. Hermione writes with a positively exquisite and wickedly fun sense of humour.

The First World War, pleurisy, pneumonia, Nannie Kate’s hairpins forever dropping out, a haunted (?) house, travel by pony & trap, sailing on the Norfolk Broads, adults talking in French when the children (one boy, three girls, born 1912, 1913, 1916, 1922) were present.

Alas, and desperately unfortunately, familial love alone was not able to triumph over undercurrents of very much darker forces. Unsustainable debt, many house moves, tragic events and terrible misfortunes caused the family to quite literally and wholly fall apart.

Hermione may not have been a conventional beauty to look at, but throughout this book (and even more so in the following book “To War With Whittaker”)) she shines through as a perfectly wonderful, loving, capable, and very level-headed girl; full of character, and with none of the shallowness of personality so often associated with skin-deep beauty.

Good fortune finally takes her to Australia, where she meets and falls very much in love with the Englishman whom she subsequently marries on 17th January 1939, at St George’s, Hanover Square [London].

The rest, as they say, is history. _____________________________________________________________________

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very glib, brush stroke type of book but enjoyable too, albeit brief.
I admit I’m slightly biased, living close to the places in Gloucestershire where she lived and visited, it being good to read about places you know.
Her father seemed an awful man, so selfish and uncaring towards his children once her mother was taken ill. I’m surprised that their big family didn’t help out more, too.

[Vanessa Couchman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hermione Ranfurly was an extraordinary woman. Born into a privileged family in 1913 as the storm clouds gathered over Europe, she led an apparently idyllic childhood. However, all was not as it seemed. She was acutely conscious of being plain and compensated by making people laugh. Her apparently devoted parents were eventually torn apart by her father's extravagance and her mother's depression. Hermione effectively stepped into the breach for her siblings and worked in a series of menial jobs. But there is no hint of self-pity.

I read this book after 'To War with Whitaker', which was a mistake, since that covers the subsequent period of her life during World War II. She wrote 'The Ugly One' when she was very elderly and the stream of consciousness way it's written comes over as rather childlike. However, you can't help but like and admire this doughty woman, who had a gift for making friends with both people and animals.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored To War with Whitaker, so ordering this one was a no-brainer for me. But the format and the size of the type of this book made me suspect that it was aimed at children, and now that I've gotten around to reading it my suspicions are confirmed.

She writes humorously, but her style is curtailed here and she focuses heavily on things that children find interesting - animals, houses, toys, the odd behaviour of grownups and relatives - and glosses over all the things that adults do. She barely touches on her romance with Dan Ranfurly, or her adulthood working in London after her father has ruined the finances of the family, both of which I would have found infinitely more interesting than all the horses and dogs she owned.

Disappointing, but interesting enough, and I read it in a couple of hours, so no real harm done.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Hermione Ranfurly's early years saw an abundance of both privilege and tragedy. In this charming and witty account, she takes us from her gloriously idyllic childhood in Wales and the Cotswolds to a painful growing up that included the devastating loss of her brother, the illness of her mother and the financial disaster that prompted her to take a job in Australia. There, on the other side of the world, she met her future husband."
~~back cover

This is indeed a charming little book, nothing to sink your teeth into but easy to read. It's a watercolor wash of a book: small vignettes that don't dive too deeply into reality or give much information about the adult side of the family -- best read as a series of snapshots.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading should inspire more reading. Just as the historical novel I read previously sent me in search of the autobiographies of some of the historical figures represented there, this memoir has sent me in search of the others by this author.
It's a quirky, rambling sort of affair, broken out by year as if culled from diaries. One event description bounces on to another seemingly unrelated one. This, though is the sort of history that makes history interesting. That coal miners were out of work for more than a year, for example, is brought home by their being part of the vista for a wealthy child driving by in an expensive car or riding by on her horse.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hermione Llewellyn Ranfurly (born 1913) had an early childhood filled with ease & privilege. That all changed, dramatically, and even though the odds were definitely not in her favour, she found love and the book ends with her marriage in January, 1939 to Dan Ranfurly. The main reason I read this is because I have waiting on my bedside table the first book Lady Ranfurly wrote, "To War with Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939-1945."

[Jacki (Julia Flyte) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an article in The Times last month about this book, otherwise I almost certainly would never have discovered it, but I'm so glad I did. Written by the Countess of Ranfurly in her 80s, it's about her upbringing in England between the two World Wars. Initially she lived a charmed life, full of horses and dogs, peopled with nannies and governesses and eccentric relatives. But gradually things turn darker: her mother struggles with mental health issues, her father can't manage money and tragedy will strike one of her siblings. Throughout this she soldiers on, always finding a way to look on the bright side and find things to laugh about.

Part of the book's charm is the way she maintains a child's perspective. Despite writing this many years later, she doesn't try to explain things beyond what she was aware of at the time. Her memory for detail is impressive although I suspect there wasn't much fact checking (for example her parents exchange books one Christmas that hadn't yet been published). I loved the way she notes changes in society - dresses getting shorter, cars becoming more commonplace, calling cards disappearing, changes in terminology.

The title comes from her own description of herself. The opening paragraph:
"I started life as a disappointment - because I wasn't a boy. I continued being a disappointment - because I was ugly. My older brother was handsome; my younger sister was beautiful; and my little sister was our baby and people always say babies are beautiful even when they are hideous."

This isn't for everyone, but if you share my fascination with English society in the early 20th century you will love it.

[Val H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another re-read for me. Yes it's short. Yes it's fragmentary but that's how childhood memories work. "We do not remember days, we remember moments." Her life was a mix of rare privilege mixed with her father's spendthrift ways and her mother's mental illness. She faced it all with a grounded determination and kept her siblings afloat. Recommended as a read prior to To War with Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939-1945 which is next on my re-read list.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Hermione Ranfurly’s dramatic and engaging wartime diaries - published as 'To War with Whitaker' - a few years ago, I had been searching for this childhood memoir. It is delightful. But it is also, despite the light-hearted charm that made me fall in love with the author first time around, quite dark. It describes, from a child’s point of view, how a seemingly idyllic family life revealed itself to be anything but. And Hermione’s steely, ever-optimistic, courageous approach to life during the war in the Middle East is infinitely more comprehensible considering the trials of her early life. Having said that it is also extremely funny, with scenes that still make me laugh in retrospect, and I eagerly passed it on to a friend.

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant,I think Hermione was such a great person
She moved from extremely privileged childhood to family heartbreak, no home, no money but got a job and kept trying to support her loved ones ( emotionally rather than financially).
No bitterness or hate
I am glad that she had happy ending with her husband and I can’t wait to read ‘At War with Whitaker’
She also founded Book Aid International,and I made a donation to this as soon as I finished ready The Ugly One

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as To War with Whitaker but I love Hermione Ranfurly and background to her life as a child was still fascinating
I was amazed of the casual mention of so many houses that I have visited as member of Historic Houses Association; she even had an aunt who lived at Highgrove ( now owned by Prince Charles!)

[Abigail Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really gentle read full of amazing anecdotes of old Aunties holding their double chins up with velvet ribbons and pet monkeys with attitude problems but also huge sadness at the dissolving of a once happy family, a mother lost to mental illness, a brother killed in an air crash and a father so self obsessed he left his children to fend for themselves.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short little read with some alternately hilarious and tragic moments. Likely of most interest to those somewhat familiar with English circumstances and history at the time. Some timeless musings about life, happiness, wealth, and poverty.

[Debbie P · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little read about how the other half lived more than a century ago in Wales, GB, and how everything changed during the early teens for Hermione and her family, her time in Australia and finally her wedding

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable book about a lifestyle that one can only imagine and which probably has been lost forever.

Lovely to hear about a happy childhood although not without its hardships and sadness but the largely happy and positive outlook is very refreshing and completely lacking in self-pity.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born in 1913 Hermione is brought up at a time of great change especially for people of her class. This charming memoir charts her family's change in fortunes as they move from place to place. The children (Owen, Hermione, Cynthia and Daphne) have a wonderful nannie, Nannie Kate, a menagerie of animals, and to begin with a life of wonderful freedoms and privilege. Through the child Hermione's eyes ( although written many years later when in her old age) and with great wit and honesty, we witness the changes in the fortunes of this aristocratic family, the descent into mental illness of her mother, and the continual financial worries that her father brought upon them. This memoir takes us to 1939 the year Hermione marries Dan Ranfurly - but already you have a picture of a woman of enormous adaptability, who comes across also as just very likeable.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming childhood memoirs (1913-39) of a wealthy family and its downfall. Atmosphere reminiscent of Nancy Mitford's "The Pursuit of Love". Interesting anti-fox-hunting view from a farming/country land-owning class member!

[Meg Lynch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Joss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting childhood biography by Lady Ranfurly - prequel to To War With Whitaker