Jessica Mann
Down with Hons
The Letters of Nancy Mitford
By Charlotte Mosley (ed)
Hodder & Stoughton 538pp £20 order from our bookshop
As long ago as 1960 the prescient Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: ‘To survive in the new climate of ostensible egalitarianism the upper class and the monarchy have to become a soap opera. The Mitfords have made a considerable contribution towards showing how this can be done.’
This ‘establishing episode’ was Nancy Mitford’s semi-autobiographical novel The Pursuit of Love, which appeared to great acclaim in 1945. Rather later it was followed by her sisters’ and other participants’ non-fiction versions of the same events. The story described Nancy’s own childhood in light disguise: Uncle Matthew (Farve), Aunt Sadie
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'McCarthy’s portrayal of a cosmos fashioned by God for killing and exploitation, in which angels, perhaps, are predators and paedophiles, is one that continues to haunt me.'
@holland_tom on reading Blood Meridian in the American west (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/devils-own-country
'Perhaps, rather than having diagnosed a real societal malaise, she has merely projected onto an entire generation a neurosis that actually affects only a small number of people.'
@HoumanBarekat on Patricia Lockwood's 'No One is Talking About This'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/culturecrisis
*Offer ends in TWO days*
Take advantage of our February offer: a six-month subscription for only £19.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/literaryfebruary/