Muv : the story of the Mitford girls' mother / Rachel Trethewey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Trethewey, Rachel

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Redesdale, Sydney Bowles Mitford-Freeman, Baroness.

Redesdale, Sydney Bowles Mitford-Freeman.

Mitford family.

Upper class women--England--Biography.

Upper class women.

Aristocracy (Social class)--Great Britain--Biography.

Aristocracy (Social class).

Mothers--England--Biography.

Mothers.

Upper class--England--Biography.

Upper class.

England.

Genre:

Biographies

Biographies.

Physical Description:

272 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Pegasus Books cloth edition.

Other Title:

Story of the Mitford girls' mother

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Pegasus Books, 2026.

Summary:

The story of the "seventh Mitford woman," a long-overlooked figure in the Mitford canon--told in full for the first time. Everyone knows about the six flamboyant Mitford girls but in fact there were seven remarkable women in the famous family--the seventh was "Muv," Lady Sydney Redesdale, the mother of the notorious sisters. Too often portrayed as different from them and outside the girl gang, she was really the original and much of her daughters' strong will, self-confidence, and extremism came from her. Sydney Redesdale was a divisive figure both among her daughters and subsequent biographers. Until their deaths, her girls were still squabbling over what she was really like, their differing views of her persisted for even longer than the political divides between them. Each daughter wanted to control the narrative and they wrote competing novels, memoirs and letters to vindicate their perspective. For Nancy and Jessica, she was a scapegoat. For Unity, Diana, Debo and Pam, she was a saint. Biographers have been equally divided about how she should be portrayed. Many wondered how such exceptional children could spring from such ordinary parents, but was Sydney really so "ordinary?" The story of her life at the heart of one of Britain's most famous families is told in full here for the first time and is a missing piece in understanding one of the twentieth century's most complex and fascinating families.

Contents:

Author's note

Introduction

An adventurous childhood

Love and marriage

Motherhood

The family and other animals

Lady of the manor

Home education

Escapades

Political divides

Parting of the ways

On the move

Causing controversy

Unity's war

War on many fronts

Keeping the family together

The last goodbye

The final voyage.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9798897100620

OCLC:

1523187534