Comment

The Six

the Lives of the Mitford Sisters
Apr 17, 2017TheresaAJ rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Thompson explores the lives and relationships of the six Mitford sisters, upper-class English women who were the "Kardashians of the 1930s and 1940s". As the book jacket says, "The eldest was a razor-sharp novelist of upper class manners; the second was loved by British poet laureate John Betjeman; the third was a Fascist who married Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists; the fourth idolized Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany; the fifth was a member of the American Communist Party; the sixth became the Duchess of Devonshire." As the book details, many of the actions, reactions, and just plain old nastiness were defined and determined by the relationships between the six sisters as well as each one's relationships with their parents. As I worked my way through their lives (the last one died in 2014), I couldn't help but remember one of my father's favorite proverbs -- Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.