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A Durable Fire: The Letters of Duff and Diana Cooper 1913-1950
Durable Fire, The Letters of Duff and Diana Cooper, 1913 - 195 by Cooper, Artemis
Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 9, 2021
Just fair.
Duff Cooper was a bon vivant and important political leader in the 1930s. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty in Neville Chamberlain's government - until he resigned in disgust at Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. In the Second World War, he re-entered the government and later served as a successful Ambassador to France. His wife, Lady Diana, was a daughter of the Duke of Rutland, widely acknowledged as one of the great beauties of her era. Their letters to one another probably were a source of a delight to each other, but the person reading them in the early 21st century is likely to feel like a party-crasher, or maybe an interloper unnecessarily intruding upon the private jokes and silly humors of a couple completely wrapped up with their "coupledom."
The pre-marriage letters take up about a third of the book. Many of them were written while Duff Cooper was serving with the British Expeditionary Force in wartime France in 1918. These "letters to and from the frontlines" are probably the most interesting part of this collection - but there are more interesting World War letters than these.
Much of the middle third of the book consists of correspondence written while Lady Diana - now married to Duff - toured America as one of the leading stars of a famous Max Reinhart production: "The Miracle." Stories of Lady Diana's performances in places like Kansas City, Cleveland, and Chicago are more dull than amusing. Back stage intrigues of 100 years ago are just not very interesting - that section of the book could have used a severe editor, IMHO.
Duff Cooper was a bon vivant and important political leader in the 1930s. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty in Neville Chamberlain's government - until he resigned in disgust at Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. In the Second World War, he re-entered the government and later served as a successful Ambassador to France. His wife, Lady Diana, was a daughter of the Duke of Rutland, widely acknowledged as one of the great beauties of her era. Their letters to one another probably were a source of a delight to each other, but the person reading them in the early 21st century is likely to feel like a party-crasher, or maybe an interloper unnecessarily intruding upon the private jokes and silly humors of a couple completely wrapped up with their "coupledom."
The pre-marriage letters take up about a third of the book. Many of them were written while Duff Cooper was serving with the British Expeditionary Force in wartime France in 1918. These "letters to and from the frontlines" are probably the most interesting part of this collection - but there are more interesting World War letters than these.
Much of the middle third of the book consists of correspondence written while Lady Diana - now married to Duff - toured America as one of the leading stars of a famous Max Reinhart production: "The Miracle." Stories of Lady Diana's performances in places like Kansas City, Cleveland, and Chicago are more dull than amusing. Back stage intrigues of 100 years ago are just not very interesting - that section of the book could have used a severe editor, IMHO.
December 8, 2017
I was reminded of this because I was forced, for a class, to read the Heloise and Abelard letters. Which are supposed to be romantic. It's a great horror story, yes, and cautionary tale to women today, but romantic? Not at all. I thought, why isn't anyone mentioning this book, A Durable Fire? Beautifully written, absolutely romantic.
July 5, 2017
Diana Cooper an original.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews