Hons and Rebels: The Mitford Family Memoir (W&N Essentials)

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One of the themes of the first part of Hons and Rebels is the gradual accumulation of funds in Jessica’s ‘Running Away Account’ which she opens aged 12 at Drummonds Bank. I love all things Mitford, and when I read Hons and Rebels some years ago I found I liked Jessica more than I had thought I would. Boards have some moderate edge wear, with slight bumping to corners and minor bumping to spine ends. Both relentlessly rebelled against the series of governesses employed to teach them, none of whom stayed for more than a few weeks. It was not the kind of letter they were accustomed to receiving, and it was one that would make history.

Rereading: Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford review — a

This is a book about wanting life to start, about the fizzing adventure of being young, which I appreciate all the more now I’m no longer young myself. There is Nanny wringing her hands at the thought of Jessica eloping with only one set of undergarments; Lord Redesdale torturing Nancy’s young men early in the morning by shouting ‘Brains for Breakfast’; Jessica herself expelled from dancing class aged 9 for explaining the mechanics of making babies to little girls in organdie dresses. The one whom I didn’t much like (besides Unity, obvs, though her regression after shooting herself is fascinating to see in letter-form) was Jessica. Hons and Rebels is the hugely entertaining tale of Mitford’s upbringing, which was, as she dryly remarks, “not exactly conventional.Decca’s relationship with her parents, always addressed as ‘Muv’ and ‘Farve’, was somewhat distant, her mother kind but emotionally detached, her father deeply eccentric, frequently exploding into terrifying rages.

Hons and Rebels on Apple Books ‎Hons and Rebels on Apple Books

Our resources are crucial for knowledge lovers everywhere—so if you find all these bits and bytes useful, please pitch in.I enjoy Hons and Rebels, but it is very interesting to see what Nancy Mitford says about it to Evelyn Waugh.