Romilly, Esmond (first husband of Jessica Mitford) 70, 127–8, 136, 152, 239, 281
Romilly, Giles (brother of Esmond Romilly) 147
Romilly, Julia (first daughter of Jessica Mitford) 158
Ross, Professor Alan 284 see also U and Non-U language
Rosse, Anne 185
Rosslyn, Earl of (father of Hamish St Clair-Erskine; ‘Harry’) 97
Rosslyn, Lady (mother of Hamish St Clair-Erskine) 96
Roussin, André 274
Roy, André see Desplats-Pilter, Roy André
Russell, Bertrand (distant cousin of NM) 275, 331
Ryder, Charles 94
Sackville-West, Edward (‘Eddy’)
254, 263, 353
Sackville-West, Vita 300
Sagan, Françoise 227
Sally (Unity’s pet salamander) 45
Sand, George 227
Sartre, Jean-Paul 227
Seafield, Nina, Countess of 75, 82, 84, 95, 107
Sereza, Mademoiselle Vanda (later Mrs Stern; ‘Zella’) 53, 160, 164
Sewell, Mary 111–12, 114 see also Rodd, Peter
Sitwell, Osbert and Sacheverell 181
Skelton, Barbara 316
Smiley, Sir Hugh 79–80, 97, 101, 103, 104, 107, 109, 199
Soames, Christopher 359
Spark, Muriel 188, 288
Spectator 156, 189, 238
Spencer, Stanley 84
Spender, Stephen 9, 284
Squire, Sir John 107
St Clair-Erskine, Hamish 92–99, 100–1, 181, 187, 194, 199
St Clair-Erskine, Mary (sister of Hamish) 98
St Margaret’s, Bushey (Unity Mitford’s school) 56
St Paul, Rudi von 141
Stamp, Mr Justice 359
Stanley of Alderley, 6th Lord (cousin of NM; ‘Ed’) 145–6, 256, 334
Strachey, John 78
Strachey, Lytton 305
Stuart-Wortley, Violet (Peter Rodd’s aunt; ‘Aunt Vi’) 158
Stürmer, Der (newspaper) 120
Sunday Express 358
Sunday Telegraph 361
Sunday Times 196, 270, 295, 364, 360; ‘Mothering the Mitfords’ 7, 9, 337; NM as columnist 269–71, 276–8
Sutro, John 81
Swinbrook church (Mitford family burial place) 1–3, 35, 261, 336, 380
Sykes, Christopher 207, 344
Talleyrand-Périgord de, Violette see Palewski, Violette
Tatler 275
Taylor, A.J.P. 277, 305
Temple de la Gloire, La (Diana Mitford’s home at Orsay) 262, 281
Thomas, Dylan 227
Thompson, Homer A. 276, 277, 278
Thornton Butterworth Ltd (NM’s first publisher) 87
Times, The 105, 106, 107, 275, 280, 285, 394, 312, 361
TLS (Times Literary Supplement) reviews: Hons and Rebels 59, 338; Highland Fling 89; Love in a Cold Climate 89, 231, 267; The Pursuit of Love 237, 241; The Blessing 288, 293, 294, 297; Don’t Tell Alfred 346–7
Tonks, Professor 72
Toynbee, Philip 283
Trefusis, Violet (‘Auntie’) 196, 266, 300–02, 318; Don’t Look Round 300
Treuhaft, Jessica Lucy (née Mitford, then Romilly; NM’s sister; ‘Decca’): NM’s comment on mother 12, 13; Hons and Rebels 18, 27, 32–3, 48, 50–1, 52, 59, 67–8, 72, 83, 86, 128, 140, 338; NM’s teasing of siblings 47, 48; espousal of Communism 57, 124; influence of Tom (brother) 58–9; love of animals 59; elopement and marriage to Esmond Romilly 70, 71, 127–29, 130, 239; comment on Peter Rodd 103; relations with NM 146, 156, 177, 179, 215–6, 375; birth of Constancia 152; visit to rue Monsieur 317–18
Treuhaft, Robert (second husband of Jessica) 262, 317
Tvede, Mogens 250, 255, 318, 319
U and Non-U language: Noblesse Oblige 61, 124, 233, 283–7
‘Unkind Nanny’ (Mitford nanny) 5–6
Vanity Fair 17, 86
Vilmorin, Louise de 252
Vogue 86, 87, 246
Walston, Catherine 316
Waugh, Auberon 191
Waugh, Evelyn: comment on NM 18, 44, 77, 94, 124, 152, 169, 232, 237; An Open Letter 39; Vile Bodies 46, 84, 87, 207; Brideshead Revisited 75, 204–6, 214–15, 236, 371; close friendship with NM 82, 206, 353; NM and Canonbury Square flat 84; comment on St Clair-Erskine 92; and on Peter Rodd 100, 102–3, 104; Black Mischief 103, 333; war years 181, 182; as literary mentor to NM 204–12, 233, 266–7, 268, 272, 283–4, 288, 305, 307, 326, 331; pen portrait of NM 248; The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold 314; death 354–5
CORRESPONDENCE WITH NM: NM’s burial 2; Hons and Rebels 32–3; humour in novels 62; Pigeon Pie 151, 157, 206; NM’s childlessness 171–2; The Pursuit of Love 204, 232; Brideshead Revisited 204–6, 207; Peter Rodd 242–3; NM’s finances 246, 275; Kind Hearts and Coronets 259; Unity’s death 262; happiness 263; Love in a Cold Climate 265–6; Count Your Blessings (film) 293–5; The Blessing 297; unkindness in England 298–9; NM’s love of France 385–6; Madame de Pompadour 308; Voltaire in Love 308; Pamela Berry 319, 320; NM’s busy life 321; and her love of suburban life 351; NM’s invitation to Waugh 352; death of friends 352
Waugh, Harriet (NM’s goddaughter) 170, 282
Waugh, Laura (wife of Evelyn Waugh) 353
West, Rebecca 63, 300, 301
Weymouth, Daphne 190, 191, 248
Windsor, Duke and Duchess of 252
Worthington, Lady Diana 160
Yorke, Henry (a.k.a. Henry Green) 82
Ziegler, Philip: Diana Cooper 253
Picture credits
Page 1 Nancy (National Portrait Gallery, London)
Page 2 Batsford Park (© Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees); Asthall Manor (Country Life Picture Library)
Page 3 Lord and Lady Redesdale (© Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees); Unity and Jessica Mitford (Getty Images/Evening Standard)
Page 4 Swinbrook House (Getty Images/Tim Graham); Rutland Gate (Philippa Lewis/Edifice); Nancy (National Portrait Gallery, London)
Page 5 Unity (Getty Images/Hulton Archive); Diana (Getty Images/Edmund Harrington London Express); Pamela (© Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees); Deborah (Getty Images/Keystone/Hulton Archive); Jessica (Illustrated London News/Mary Evans Picture Library)
Page 6 Nancy and Peter Rodd (Getty Images/Hulton Archive); Unity, Diana, Desmond and Jonathan Guinness (Getty Images / Hulton Archive)
Page 7 Lord and Lady Redesdale, Unity and Dr Fitz-Randolph (Getty Images/Hulton Archive); Unity (Getty Images/Rolls Press/Popperfoto)
Page 8 Gaston Palewski (TopFoto)
Page 9 Nancy (Getty Images/Thurston Hopkins Picture Post/Hulton Archive)
Page 10 Duff and Diana Cooper (TopFoto); Cyril Connolly (Rex/ITV)
Page 11 Lady Pamela Berry (Getty Images/Kurt Hutton Picture Post/Hulton Archive); Evelyn Waugh (Getty Images/Kurt Hutton Picture Post/Hulton Archive)
Page 12 Cover of programme for The Little Hut (Getty Images/Hulton Archive); Signed programme for The Little Hut (© Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees); Rehearsal still from The Little Hut (Getty Images/Thurston Hopkins Picture Post/Hulton Archive); Ava Gardner (TopFoto)
Page 13 Nancy at Rue Monsieur (Getty Images/Philippe Le Tellier Paris Match); Nancy at a book signing (Gisele Freund/Camera Press); Nancy at her house in Versailles (Getty Images/Hulton Archive)
Page 14 Nancy (Frank Herrman/Camera Press);
Letter to Theodore Besterman (Taylor Institution Library, University of Oxford)
Page 15 Swinbrook churchyard (Country Life Picture Library); Swinbrook church interior (Country Life Picture Library); Nancy’s gravestone (Philippa Lewis/Edifice)
Page 16 Nancy (Getty Images/Reg Lancaster Express)
About this Book
Nancy Mitford was, in the words of her sister Lady Diana Mosley, ‘very, very complex’. Her highly a
utobiographical early novels, the biographies and novels of her more mature French period, her journalism, and the vast body of letters to her family, friends such as Evelyn Waugh, and to the great love of her life, Gaston Palewski, all tell an intriguing story. Drawing from these, as well as from conversations with people who knew Mitford well – notably her sisters Diana and Deborah – Laura Thompson has fashioned a portrait of a contradictory and courageous woman. Nancy Mitford expressed anti-feminist views while living a life of financial and emotional independence; believed profoundly in marriage and family and yet grew to value work and solitude; was quintessentially English yet only truly blossomed after her move to France.
Approaching her subject with wit, perspicacity and affection, prize-winning author Laura Thompson makes her serious points lightly, eschewing clichés about the eccentricities of the Mitford clan. This is a book that will fascinate anyone interested in Nancy Mitford’s circle and the world of her novels, which say so much about their author and yet only hint at the many sorrows she stoically endured. Life in a Cold Climate is full of the sound of Mitfordian laughter; but tells also the often paradoxical and complex story beneath the smiling and ever elegant façade.
Reviews
LIFE IN A COLD CLIMATE
‘Well-nigh perfect.’
Lady Diana Mosley
‘A brilliant study, original, perceptive, passionate and very nearly as enjoyable to read as the subject’s own novels.’
Selina Hastings, Sunday Telegraph
‘Thompson, like Mitford, writes in a witty, humorous and touchingly personal manner.’
Daily Express
‘This book is a gem: fresh, intelligent and assured.’
Sunday Times
A DIFFERENT CLASS OF MURDER
‘Laura Thompson’s wonderful book challenges our assumptions about the disappearance of Lord Lucan after the murder of his children’s nanny. She shines new light on his background, his weak obsessive character, his terrible marriage, the supposed naivety of Sandra Rivett and the ease with which myths and truths elide.’
Diana Souhami, author of Murder at Wrotham Hill
AGATHA CHRISTIE: AN ENGLISH MYSTERY
‘Laura Thompson has certainly written the last word on Agatha Christie. Her book is a superb piece of biography.’
Charles Osborne, Literary Review
‘This splendid account of [Christie’s] life and work is unlikely to be bettered.’
Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard
‘The best biographies are labours of love and this fascinating book is just that.’
Jessica Mann, Sunday Telegraph
‘Laura Thompson’s outstanding biography... is a pretty much perfect capturing of a life.’
Kate Mosse, Book of the Year, 2007
‘A triumphant success.’
A. N. Wilson, Daily Mail
About the Author
LAURA THOMPSON is author of Somerset Maugham Award-winning The Dogs: A Personal History of Greyhound Racing (1995), Newmarket (2000), Life in a Cold Climate: A Biography of Nancy Mitford (2003) and Agatha Christie: An English Mystery (2007)
Also by this Author
A Different Class of Murder: the Story of Lord Lucan
On 7 November 1974, a nanny named Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in a Belgravia basement. A second woman, Veronica, Countess of Lucan, was also attacked. The man named in a coroner’s court as the perpetrator of these crimes, Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, disappeared in the early hours of the following morning. The case, solved in the eyes of the law, has retained its fascination ever since.
Laura Thompson, acclaimed biographer of Agatha Christie, narrates the story that led up to that cataclysmic event, and draws on her considerable forensic skills to re-examine the possible truths behind one of postwar Britain’s most notorious murders. A Different Class of Murder is a portrait of an era, of an extraordinary cast of characters, of a mystery, of a modern myth. Part social history, part detective story, it tells in masterly style one of the great tales of our collective living memory
A Different Class of Murder: the Story of Lord Lucan is available here.
A Letter from the Publisher
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HeadofZeusBooks
The story starts here.
First published in 2003 by Review
a division of Headline Book Publishing
This edition published by Head of Zeus Ltd in 2015
Copyright © 2003, 2015 Laura Thompson
Author Photo © Richard Blower
Cover images: Nancy Mitford by Bassano Ltd, 7 July 1932 © National Portrait Gallery, London
The right of Laura Thompson to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Every effort has been made to fulfil requirements with regard to reproducing copyright material. The author and publisher will be glad to rectify any omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Material from The Letters of Nancy Mitford, The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh and The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford is reproduced by permission of The Estate of Nancy Mitford c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN.
Material from Another Self by James Lees-Milne is reproduced by permission of David Higham Associates.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN (HB) 978 178408 229 1
ISBN (E) 978 178408 263 5
Head of Zeus Ltd
Clerkenwell Green
45-47 Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.headofzeus.com
Contents
Cover
Welcome Page
Dedication
Map
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Preview
Picture section
Acknowledgments
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Picture credits
About this Book
Reviews
About the Author
Also by this Author
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright
Life in a Cold Climate Page 56