Mitford

views updated May 18 2018

Mitford Name of six British sisters, daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale. The most famous, Nancy Freeman Mitford (1904–73), was a novelist and biographer. Her first successful novel was The Pursuit of Love (1945), followed by Love in a Cold Climate (1949) and The Blessing (1951). Her sister, Jessica Mitford (1917–96), also wrote, protesting about snobbery, as in The American Way of Death (1963) and Kind and Usual Punishment (1973). The other two notable sisters, Unity Valkyrie (1914–48) and Diana (1910–96), turned to fascism, the former becoming a follower of Adolf Hitler in Germany, and the latter marrying Sir Oswald Mosley.

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