The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters
by Laura Thompson
The Six (6/6/2016)
The Six was not a simple read, but an attempt to properly biographize the Mitford family seems like a formidable task.
I need to add that this is my first Mitford biography; therefore I'm not able to make comparisons with other chronicles.
Laura Thompson found it necessary to present and investigate the Mitford family tree. I did appreciate seeing the actual diagram and referred back to it several times in my reading. I had to take notes and sometimes felt a yoyo effect as my reading time frame wound forward, then backward.
I did regain my sense of time but I frequently had to take a reading break, to reset my perspective. The cast of characters went on and on and the use of their own
private names and vocabulary left me once again with a list. Pamela is woman, Unity is Bobo or Boud, Jessica is Decca. You get my drift.
In an attempt to introduce a complex family narrative, I'd say:
Pamela, the rural Mitford, seemingly not politically involved, although she married a Fascist sympathizer.
Nancy, a best selling author
Jessica, the Communist
Diana, a Fascist politician's wife
Unity, obsessed with Hitler, shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany
Deborah, the Duchess of Devonshire.
Their lives were unorthodox, reckless, radical, experimental.
Their sisterly relationships often came through to me as restless and so chameleon that I couldn't remember who felt what toward whom.
The front cover of my advance reading copy (ARC) depicts stylish sisters. Your copy will have an additional 16 pages of black and white photographs.
Laura Thompson refers to the Mitfords as "a variant strain of the Downton Abbey Syndrome." She also notes "The Mitfords were remarkably good at classless
displays of class." There are humorous elements to be found.
In reading The Six, you'll get more than enough details on Mitford lives and the times. Relationships and events are explained in detail.
Reviewing the note section was definitely helpful in my reading experience.
My ARC had 367 pages that I read, but the amount of historical information was almost overwhelming to me.
Do give this Mitford saga a chance. What was almost overwhelming to me might be just right for you.
3.5 ?
