She is depicted as taking some significant risks to help end the war as well as to maintain contact/build bridges with her siblings when they were ostracised by the family. She was a writer and wrote novels with characters that bore startling resemblances to her sisters. Nancy was the oldest sister, and the only family member who seemed to question some of her sisters’ ideas.There were a number of rumours that she was Hitler’s mistress! Her acceptance into the highest echelons of the Nazi party gave her the status and recognition she craved. She moved to Munich to study German and became close to some of the leading Nazi party members and eventually Hitler. Tall, angular & not conventionally pretty, she was an ardent Nazi, obsessed with Hitler and his policies. From an early age, Unity had been the odd-one-out in the family.She was passionate about supporting those who were oppressed and eloped with her 2 nd cousin Esmond Romilly to serve in the press corps in the Spanish Civil War. Jessica was the second youngest sister, and a communist.She was keen to learn more about the politics of Nazi Germany in order to advance her husband’s career & believed that England could benefit from adopting some of Hitler’s ideas – she was not averse to the idea of Germany invasion. She caused scandal when she divorced her “suitable” husband to be with Moseley. She has fascist ideas, and became obsessed with the leader of the British Fascist party, Oswald Moseley. Diana was the “pretty” sister, who attracted interest wherever she went.Diana, Unity & Jessica had very strong, and opposing, political views. The chapters alternate their stories/points of view which helps the reader to keep track of what was happening to each member of the family, but also to see how actions and activities linked together. The story primarily centres round Nancy, Diana and Unity, with their younger sister Jessica coming in towards the end. With distinctive personalities, each of the Mitford children became “famous” in their own way and this book reimagines the life of the Mitford siblings, giving us a glimpse into the complicated, fascinating, and intense world that they were growing up in, and the choices they made. Part of the British aristocracy, and related to Winston Churchill’s wife Clementine, the family had lost a significant amount of money during the post-WW1 years so the children knew that their lives would be somewhat different to that of a traditional debutante/aristocrat and that they would have to find their own place in a fast-changing world.
David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife Sydney had seven children, one son & six daughters.
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