The characterization is distinctive and consistent. The prose is clear and precise, and the author has a knack for describing the setting that really puts you into the time and place her characters occupy. The technical aspects of this book are incredibly well done. With the ladies estranged and war looming, what will happen to the Mitford family? As she watches her siblings lose their souls to the fascist movement, she takes pen to paper to write Wigs on the Green, a satire of Mosley and his beliefs in the hopes she can free her family members from his influence. Meanwhile, Nancy marries the alcoholic Peter Rodd and becomes increasingly skeptical of her sister’s adoration of Mosley and his political leanings.
She succeeds and is able to introduce him to Diana. Unity quickly becomes a fanatic for the cause, going so far as to move to Munich, hoping for a chance to meet Hitler. She becomes his most ardent follower and encourages her sister Unity to join as well. Shortly after the party, Diana files for divorce and makes public her affair with Oswald Mosley, leader of the BUF (British Union of Fascists). We learn rather quickly that this glittering, decadent scene is about to be replaced by a far darker, more dangerous spectacle. We meet up with them at a gala hosted by Diana, an extravagant affair to launch Unity into society. Unity, one of the younger Mitford sisters, is awkward, rather plain, and tremendously loyal to Diana.
Having married extremely well, Diana is fabulously wealthy as well as breathtakingly beautiful, and she revels in the limelight. Diana, Nancy’s sister, is the star of their clique, the belle of every ball. Nancy Mitford loves being a part of this exuberant group, whose members admire her sharp, barbed wit – a feature of her personality her parents find rather irritating. A group of fantastically privileged unconventional aristocrats and socialites, their youthful exploits both entertained and horrified the masses.
They were dubbed The Bright Young Things by the tabloid press. While the novel does discuss all six of the Mitford children, it concentrates on three primary characters – the scandalous Diana, whose adulterous affair with a fascist provided endless fodder for the gossip rags Unity, whose adoration of Hitler led her to make some rather disturbing life choices and Nancy, whose satirical novels captured the agony and ecstasy of living in the spotlight alongside two such flamboyant characters.
Marie Benedict’s The Mitford Affair is a fictionalized account of the infamous Mitford family, focusing primarily on the years leading up to and during the Second World War.
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