Queen Bees: Six Brilliant and Extraordinary Society Hostesses Between the Wars – A Spectacle of Celebrity, Talent, and Burning Ambition

by Siân Evans

In the aftermath of the First World War, the previously strict hierarchies of the British class system were weakened. For a number of ambitious, spirited women, this was the chance they needed to slip through the cracks and take their place at the top of society as the great hostesses of the time. In an age when the place of women was uncertain, becoming a hostess was not a chore, but a career choice, and though some of the hostesses' backgrounds were surprisingly humble, their aspirations were anything but. During the inter-war years these extraordinary women ruled over London society from their dining tables - entertaining everyone from the Mosleys to the Mitfords, from millionaires to maharajahs, from film stars to royalty - and their influence can still be felt today. Great Hostesses looks at the lives of six of these remarkable women, including Lady Astor, who went on to become the first female MP, and Mrs Greville, who cultivated relationships with Edward VII, as well as Lady Londonderry, Lady Cunard, Laura Corrigan and Lady Colefax.

Written with wit, verve and heart, Great Hostesses is the story of a society on the brink of revolution, and the extraordinary women who helped it happen

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Feminism, Historical, Gender, Book Club

416 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2016

About the author

Siân Evans is a prolific author, journalist, commentator, speaker, publicist and film consultant specialising in social history. She is the author of a plethora of popular social histories including Mrs Ronnie: the Society Hostess who collected Kings; The Manor Reborn (tied in with a major 4 part BBC1 TV series); Life Below Stairs in the Victorian and Edwardian Country House; Ghosts: Mysterious Tales from the National Trust; 7 National Trust Guidebooks between 2008 and 2014 and Great Hostesses (John Murray, 2016), a book examining the role of six influential interwar society hostesses. Siân regularly writes for BBC Antiques Roadshow Magazine, Daily Mail, The Express, Coast Magazine National Trust Members’ Magazine and Royal Oak Foundation Newsletter. She works as a freelance consultant to the National Trust Film Office and is an experienced public speaker.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Sian Evans has written several works about the period this book covers, including a biography of one of the women covered in this book – “Mrs Ronnie: The Society Hostess Who Collected Kings.” This is a more general work, rather than a specific biography, and it results in a slightly disjointed approach which still has a lot of appeal. All of the six society hostesses in this book were born between 1863 and 1879, in the height of the Victorian era and their lives covered some very tumultuous times – including WWI, the roaring twenties, the depression, the rise of fascism in Europe, the abdication crisis and the Second World War. In a time when women had virtually no role to play in business or politics, they made a niche for themselves and found a role, and influence, in politics, the arts and society.

This book covers Mrs Margaret Greville (the ‘Mrs Ronnie’ of Evans previous biography) who was born to an unmarried domestic servant; the mistress of brewer William McEwan. Margaret’s parents later married and she was brought up as the step daughter of her real father; who launched her into society. Lady Sibyl Colefax, whose parents had an unhappy marriage and who spent her childhood shuttled between England and India and a series of different relatives. Lady Londonderry, who was brought up by her grandfather, the Duke of Sutherland. Nancy Astor, who was divorced with a six year old son when she met Waldorf Astor, and who became an MP. Lady Cunard, who was born in America and later married the heir to the shipping line. Lastly, Laura Corrigan; born in the US as Laura Mae Whitrock and married James Corrigan, heir to a steel company.

Many of these women had humble beginnings, while other came from the landed classes. Many shared a personal insecurity and a burning ambition to compete as the greatest hostess of their time. They spent their time trying to attract the most influential, famous, celebrated names to their homes. This was a time of country house parties, of romance, intrigue and unabashed social climbing. The book covers so many different periods within a lifetime and these range from the moving (for example, a craze for palm-reading just before WWI saw one celebrated palm-reader dismissed as a charlatan when she found herself unaccountably unable to see any future in the palms of the young, male clients who flocked to see her) to the less than attractive flirtation that many of these hostesses had with the early rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

This book is full of names that are instantly familiar – whether they are Winston Churchill, Oswald Mosley or Noel Coward – complaining about yet another intimate supper with Edward and Mrs Simpson… From the great, to the good, to the infamous, this is a story of two wars and the time between them. This is an ambitious book, which attempts to tell all of the six ‘Queen Bees’ stories in tandem and sometimes you feel a little confused about exactly who is who. I have read many books about this period and so I could keep the characters fairly clear in my mind, but if you are unfamiliar with the subjects of this book you will need to concentrate closely. Overall, though, an extremely good introduction to six very interesting women and to an era which fascinates me.

Rated 3.5

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting, informative, well written book. It tells the tales of the six 'big' hostesses in England from the late 1800's onwards. They were as different a bunch as you could get but they all had one thing in common, hosting lavish parties, getting the 'names' of the day to come to the parties and being friends of anyone that mattered, especially the Royal Family.
They were all too sure of themselves and were sure they had the power to make decisions for the country. Some of them even traveled to Germany to try and placate Hitler and stop him starting war.
A comment on the back of the book reads, 'gloriously gossipy' and it is but there is also a lot of history in it, especially about WW2.
If I had any complaint it's that I thought it would be a chapter to each queen bee but it was all one long read. So I had a bit of difficulty following all the people in it because there are a LOT of characters to keep track of. I'd recommend it though to anyone who likes to read about days gone by, likes history and most of all likes juicy gossip!

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seemed to take me forever to read. Partly because I was forever googling the various minor characters that appeared, including the gloriously named Major 'Fruity' Metcalfe. But also because at other times it was like wading through treacle.
I loved the idea of taking 6 'society hostesses' (all born within a few years of each other but with very different backgrounds) and telling their stories. Evans has a casual, gossipy style ideally suited to the subject matter.
What I didn't like was the constant repetition of minor facts. The book obviously jumped about between its 6 main characters. However, I certainly didn't need reminding about details over and over again. A bit of tighter editing could have eliminated this irritant.
Altogether I expected more, and I'm glad to have finished it at long last!

[Roman Clodia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Evans' book on Mrs Ronnie Greville a couple of years ago and this one expands on that taking a wider view of the phenomenon of society hostesses in the between the wars years.

The style is gossipy and uncritical, and ventures towards hagiography especially when excusing these women's support for Hitler, the Nazis and Fascism in general. Stating that many of the British elite and aristocrats thought the same way (not actually true: look at Jessica and Nancy versus Unity and Deborah Mitford) isn't really a justification, especially when the book itself quotes other people dissing these women who talked about Hitler as 'kindly', for example; or Nancy Astor being 'astounded' in the House of Commons when she hears about Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia when she had been defending him for years... It's typical of the milieu that one of the women, after being publicly pro-Hitler, tried to buy back her ruined reputation by donating enough money for a Spitfire: less money and more integrity wouldn't have gone amiss.

So Evans overstates the 'achievements' of these women who are foolish, often silly, crashing snobs, and absolutely of the Establishment. I had little sympathy or liking for any of them and found myself arguing back with the book on how radical, influential or even interesting any of them actually were. We're constantly told that these women were witty and sharp but we never witness it for ourselves.

Apart from the content, the style of the narrative needs work: Evans skips too blithely between women and their friends and relatives, so that it's difficult to keep them apart at times. Some political balance such as Lady Ottoline Morell, patron of the left-wing Bloomsbury Group, might have made this less of a paen to the Establishment.

An interesting topic but Evans doesn't really make a convincing case for her assertions: it's not really enough to attribute the changing social positioning of women in the twentieth century to elitist snobs like these women as this book tries to: 'brilliant', 'extraordinary' and 'talent[ed]' is how the subtitle describes them but I can't say I agree and this book did nothing to convince me otherwise.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast paced trip through the first half of last century through the lives of six wealthy women. It’s an insight into the lives of the elite during and between the two wars. Though you don’t really get much of an insight into the women’s personalities themselves.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and gossipy but a bit shallow, repetitive (I don't need to read every little thing again in the next chapter; it almost felt like these were written as separate essays and spliced together to make a book) and far too lenient on pro-Nazi people, though not quite so bad as some other early twentieth century historians.

[Tracey Keir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this as much as Maiden Voyages, not sure why. Maybe the subject matter didn't grip me as much. But I am going to give you my favourite anecdote from the book (which isn't about one of the Queen Bees as it happens!) :

Bob Boothby travelled to Germany in 1932 and was invited to meet Hitler. He recalled that when he entered the room Hitler kept to his feet, lifted his right arm and snapped 'Hitler'. The Scot returned the salute and shouted 'Boothby!'. It became apparent to Boothby that not only did Hitler lack a sense of humour, he was also unhinged.

[Melinda Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still not getting enough of the gilded age and all it’s twists and turns, so this book really filled the gap between Victorian era and current (modern) day history.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and entertaining book about some very nasty and vulgar women.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

A spectacle of celebrity, talent and burning ambition, Queen Bees combines the biographical stories of six ambitious women who helped to shape the standards of British society between the two world wars. Londoner Siân Evans is a cultural historian who has previously worked with the Victoria and Albert Museum, National Trust and Design Museum, and takes great lengths to thoroughly research into her written subject in order to portray a highly accurate insight to the lives of historical figures. Due to the non-existent political status of women in the early 1900s, the women featured in this book are virtually unknown today, yet they had a great impact during the 20s and 30s and helped to shape the Britain of today.

Although not necessarily born into it, circumstances such as marriage meant these six women were regarded as upper class. In no particular order, the names impacting on the social revolution and thus featured in Queen Bees are as follows: Lady Nancy Astor, the first female MP; Lady Sybil Colefax, who became a friend of Edward VIII; Lady Emerald Cunard, also connected with the royal family; Mrs. Ronnie Greville, a rather formidable woman; Lady Edith Londonderry, the founder of the Women’s Legion; and Laura Corrigan, the youngest of the set. Evans talks the reader through these women’s careers as professional hostesses as they compete to throw the better party, entertaining famous writers and actors as well as members of royalty, both national and foreign.

What is perhaps the most interesting, and indeed the most worth learning, is the way a couple of these women altered the future of the British monarchy. Without their interference the future George VI would never have married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and without their involvement in the relationship between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, George VI would never have come to the throne. This is such an important aspect of British history that has been widely left out and ignored. Without these hostesses influence we would all be experiencing a slightly different life.

In terms of the actual writing, Siân Evans manages fairly well to engage the reader as she relates the factual story in a more or less chronological way. A slight issue is the quick, often undetected, move from one woman to the next, resulting in a lot of confusion about who is who particularly at the beginning of the book. A lot of the narrative features other key figures from the same period and often moves away from the main characters, which, whilst interesting, is not what the reader necessarily expected from a book whose title Queen Bees suggested it was only going to be about the women’s lives.

Footnotes, quotes and extracts from letters and diaries help to make the book appear reliable, factual and believable. Some of the content, without back up, would have seemed rather fanciful or exaggerated. Queen Bees can be read as a source of entertainment or as a citation for historical research. What is found within these pages is a more unbiased account of the early twentieth century than would be found in numerous male dominated history textbooks.

Mature readers of all ages are likely to gain something from reading Queen Bees – pleasure, knowledge etc., however it is most likely to appeal to the contemporary feminist. With this in mind, be aware that the six hostesses were not feminists of their time; they were not involved in Suffragette movements and were fairly content to live off money earned by their husbands or fathers. Yet, on the other hand, they impacted on the future of Britain as much as the male politicians of the time. Highly political in content, Queen Bees is worth reading to discover our own history, but be prepared for initial confusion over who is who and rather lengthy paragraphs.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an interesting and spirited look at six remarkable women between the wars who turned themselves into society hostesses. The book doesn't just look at their careers as hostesses but also looks at their lives leading up to the point where they made the decision to become hostesses. This was definitely a career choice for all six of them. They came from varied backgrounds, not all of them from the highest echelons of society.

Lady Astor - one of the six women who are the subject of this book - also became the first female MP. All six cultivated the great and the good and the interesting from all walks of society including aristocracy and royalty. They brought society to life and caused it to sparkle. This book really brought that era to life for me and I felt as though I was there, an observer at those glittering society events.

I would have preferred the book cover fewer of the women, all of whom really deserve books in their own right. I found it difficult to keep the six separate in my head while I was reading. Undoubtedly the book does give a real flavour of the era but I think it would have been better with fewer main characters.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was informative and interesting - exploring the lives of the six notable society hostesses.

I did find the approach quite difficult. Instead of working through each person the author decided to work chronically through all six ladies at once. Perhaps it is just the way I process information, but I was left confused at times as all the stories blended into one.

[Reason Restored · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more than party planners & social mountaineers.
Another reviewer heads his review ‘not a rounded view’! I really can’t imagine what s/he was listening to. I have previously read or listened to a number of works that have considerable insight into these women (not least 140+ hours of the diaries of Henry ‘Chips’ Channon!) and so I was keen to have them be the focus of the story rather than the ‘supporting players’ in men’s biographies etc. I found the book insightful and balanced. If anything the style is a little too journalistic and might have benefited from a few lyrical flights, given the milieu of History, Art, Jewels and Objet that these women inhabited and used to mark their positions and describe their personal value.
Context is everything and especially relevant when looking at women’s achievements or otherwise in a male dominated culture. I found such context evident without being labored, and this and the well rounded portraits that include many voices and contemporary sources of evidence made for an enjoyable read.
I can only imagine that the other reviewers own prejudices blinded him/her from the outset.
In some ways this world (court/politics adjacent Society) is the most difficult for those of us who appear to live in more egalitarian and democratic times to comprehend. So much seems superficial and many of the values of this culture seem open to question by us.
But the humanity of these women is evident here (good and bad if you will) if you can put aside inverted snobbery and potentially hypocritical distaste for the class ridden milieu and the social mountaineering it took to navigate a place to the top. Be under no illusion, there is always a ‘crème de La crème’ in society. It is only the criteria and the route to that spot that change. Scratch the surface and I doubt that either Britain or America are essentially better places today.

[Good Queen Bess · Rating 1 out of 5]

i struggled to finish this. the early chapters left me confused as to which hostess was who and then as the book continued on, i started to realise that a lot of the parties that were listed usually came in the form of: guest list, where it happened, possibly what the hostess wore (probably the same article of jewelry that has been listed before) and a small anecdote that was probably the talk of london after the party was over. along the way there was some bonuses - i loved learning about lady sibyl colefax as she seemed to do hosting on the side of her interior design business, which was interesting to read about; i was also familiar with lady nancy astor, who was the first female MP to be elected into the house of commons - hearing about her life in more detail was fascinating and entertaining - especially her balance of work and home life. but the rest left me in various states of boredom or lack of care, and the attempt by the author to frame these women as revolutionaries when in reality, they only worked to help the elite and privileged of English society and only in times in national crisis helped the public (bar astor), i felt that this book left me not knowing who these women were personally.

it wasn't until the last 50 pages that all the dots started to connect and i realised this book isn't a biographical look into the lives of these six women - it's prolonged advertising for the national trust. it's not a history book (there's little use of citations or sources throughout), it's a published pamphlet for the National Trust and the properties they own. it's light and easy to read and would make a good introduction to history for fans of Downton Abbey - but as a biography or historical document, this just isn't worth your time.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb on the back of this book says it is a witty, warm and fascinating story. Wrong. The writing is wooden, the stories are bland and the information is confusing. There is no excitement, no thrill, no pizzazz. I gave up on it long before the end.

As other reviewers have commented, the author constantly jumps between the six Queen Bees, sometimes even within the same paragraph, as well as referring to each by different names, so it's hard to keep track of who's who and who did what.

The author also has a tendency to go off on tangents about other characters, which adds to the confusion but not the interest.

This book needed a major edit to shorten the paragraphs, eliminate the repetitions, gather the information together in a better sequence, cut out the non-sequiturs and inject some life. It also desperately needs more photos and some family trees.

What I did enjoy in the book were the extracts from other people's writings. In particular, an extract from Barbara Cartland's 'The Isthmus Years'. I think that book would be a much better read.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not finished yet, but sadly this one has to go back to the library today and there's a big reserve list.

I am uncertain if I'll get it out again later to try and finish. I've just read through the abdication, which is a particular area of interest for me, though I'm less interested in how things shake out during the war and after. In addition, the author has a love for details, especially interior design details, that is no doubt delightful to the right audience, but just makes things drag for me.

I did very much appreciate the look at the "soft power" exerted by these women in their varying areas of interest. (Indeed, they were such acknowledged pillars of influence that Hitler sent a representative to court their good opinion.) I feel like maybe a little more focus and a little less objective detail might have provided a keener view at their impact, but all in all, there's a lot of interesting stuff in this book.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant look at the Queen Bees of British Society of the interwar years. The narrative of this book starts out with each of these six women's origins ranging from aristocracy to working class origins. This was really easy to read, extremely accessible and I at different points throughout the book was routing for differen members of the Queen Bees. The woman I most got on with during this book was Edith Londonderry but they all had their moments were I disliked and likes each of the Queen Bees in equal measure as the era that they lived through was a highly contentious time due to the rise of Fascism and the early attempts by British Aristocracy of Appeasement. You will like this book if you are interested in social history, the interwar years and the celebrity culture of the early 20th Century.

[Hilary Tesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were interesting whilst others consisted of little more than name dropping of a few of the famous guests who attended the hostesses’ social events. The more interesting chapters covered their origins, their attitudes towards the Prince of Wales’ relationship with Wallis Simpson, their reaction to the rise of Hitler and their hope for appeasement and what they did, as now elderly ladies, in the subsequent war. The chapter on their legacy seeks to portray them as trail blazers who, in a later generation, would be successful business women and influential politicians. I’m not sure their motives were so pure and altruistic or whether they were simply rich acquisitive women who liked to be at the centre of a social scene.

[Mick Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book about a subject I thought might have been dry.it is quite amazing that these six prominent figures intertwined through the socio-political era In an age when most women were struggling to have their voice heard,money did have a lot to do with it but with stealth and ingenuity collected a rambunctious group of people around them.they had their flaws and some were blinkered to both Adolf Hitler and Mussolini .and threat they caused.the only negative thing to say that some of them had the morals of an alleyway,swapped and changed partners when it suited them,these are the daily mail readers who would tut tut at the idea of working class doing the same.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out that the parties thrown by Jay Gatsby were really happening here in Britain. Full of interesting and thought provoking facts and gossip about six society hostesses, from their diverse beginnings in the late part of the 19th century to their deaths, but focussing most interestingly on the interwar years. I found the structure confusing as we we moved between ‘characters’ within the space of single paragraphs and felt it could do with some tighter editing. Eventually I gave up trying to imagine them as separate people and used the hostesses as a whole on which to build an idea of the habits, lifestyles, foibles and beliefs held by many people of this incredibly wealthy class.

[Regina Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept of the book is better than its execution. The book tells the story of society ladies between the world wars. The book flows chronologically rather than each ladies story. The book reads like a gossip magazine rather than a history book. There is some repetition of information but there is a lot of overlapping in the women's social circles so it is forgiven.
There could have been more photos but with access to the internet it is easy to access more information on these society ladies. Worth a read.

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting character is MrsGreville- the story of hoe the illegitimate daughter of a servant ends up as the friend and favourite’aunt’ to the Royal Family , in particular, George VI and the late Queen Mother seems like the plot of a fanciful ‘historical romance’
Money and a determined character definitely help - she left her extensive collection of fabulous jewellery to the royal family after her death
It was the ‘Greville tiara that Megan wanted to wear at her wedding but the Queen refused permission
The Queen allowed Princess Eugenia to wear it at her wedding later in the year

[Caroline Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish. The book is confusing. Taking various women and telling their life stories so concurrently that not even a page break is inserted to take you between the different biographies. I was hoping for more bohemian figures, or at least literary and artistic, but So and So giving money to Asquith's family to ensure someone gets an honour and lots of royals and royal adjacent people (and therefore Nazi adjacent due to the time period) was not my cup of tea at all.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved learning more about this era and seeing the connections to people in power/influence today. Churchill bon mots are always welcome. But a fair number of the anecdotes would be told in detail once, and then repeated at length elsewhere (sometimes multiple times). Could've used another edit.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revealing the often unexplored and understudied history of women. It can be confusing to follow in parts but this is overcome by the interesting stories each of the women in this book have. Highly recommend. I received this book from a Goodreads First reads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your looking for a book about between-the-wars society hostesses that is dispassionate and is firmly set in the context of the times, this is probably not for you. This is not to say that it’s in anyway careless, but to indicate that the focus is somewhat lighter, more gossipy. As a reader with a limited tolerance for wealthy snobs, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this lively account.

[Alice Bloomfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This group of women (American born and sent over the England to marry a title)have often been reduced to ‘the wife of …’ or largely ignored. This type of book acknowledges the role they played in society as the hostesses and how that hosting influenced world events. An interesting read and good to see this type of work out there.

[Wenny H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather sporadic narrative, jumping from one persona to another. It has potential to be more compelling had it been structured better, but as of now I find it hard to follow, like a haphazard collection of news clippings.

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally picked this up thinking it was a novel but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this account of some of English societies greats and the impact they had on early feminism. Fans of Downton Abbey or The Crown will thoroughly enjoy this little tidbit of history.

[rachael gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read so, so many books in this genre and on these women and this one wasn’t my fave. Felt like it had missed an edit, with quite a lot of repetition of facts and phrases. How many times do you need to use a Gordian knot metaphor??