The Scandalous Mitfords: Socialites, Nazis, Communists, Oh My

This week on the History, Books and Wine podcast, I'm pouring a glass of vino and diving into the Scandalous Mitford family! They were made up of socialites, debutantes, couple of fascists, a communist, socialists, a couple of Nazi sympathizers, WWII volunteers, a soldier, authors, a duchess... the list goes on and on... This wild family of seven siblings were constantly in the papers in the 1920s, 30s, 40s...and still TO THIS DAY! 

Nancy's book The Pursuit of Love was just adapted into a short series by Netflix, starring Lily James. Diana even has a cameo on the show, Peaky Blinders, played by Amber Anderson.

There is something about the Mitfords that fascinates and continues to do so a hundred years later.

Take a listen to find out the fascinating history behind this scandalous and evergreen family. Here's a snippet to get your started.

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Can't get enough Mitfords? I invite you to read my international bestseller, and Costco Book Club Pick, The Mayfair Bookshop: A Novel of Nancy Mitford and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

From USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight: a brilliant dual-narrative story about Nancy Mitford—one of 1930s London’s hottest socialites, authors, and a member of the scandalous Mitford Sisters—and a modern American book curator desperate for change, connected through time by a little London bookshop.

1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly sparkling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.

Present Day: When book curator Lucy St. Clair lands a gig working at Heywood Hill she can’t get on the plane fast enough. Not only can she start the healing process from the loss of her mother, it’s a dream come true to set foot in the legendary store. Doubly exciting: she brings with her a first edition of Nancy’s work, one with a somewhat mysterious inscription from the author.  Soon, she discovers her life and Nancy’s are intertwined, and it all comes back to the little London bookshop—a place that changes the lives of two women from different eras in the most surprising ways. 

Mitford Family Pets

I've been familiar with the Mitford family since college, when I first read Nancy Mitford The Pursuit of Love and then just had to go on a deep dive into the infamous family.

For the past nearly two years, I've had the pleasure of digging even further into the family while researching my forthcoming novel THE MAYFAIR BOOKSHOP.

Side note here, I am SO EXCITED for this book to release, and I will be sharing all of the details here on History Undressed soon, including the cover! The novel is a dual timeline with a modern day book curator who has a connection to Nancy, and then the second point of view is Nancy herself. I've had some really great feedback from early readers!

So back to my topic today...

The Mitfords LOVED their pets. Nancy had a number of dogs, and loved French bulldogs so much, as did most of the family. There are so many fun stories about their pets when they were going up of which they had a veritable menagerie. In the family photo below you can see a couple of cute pets. Nancy is in the top row, sitting down on the left with her dog.

Not shown were the chickens, ponies, goats, etc... Several of Nancy's dogs make appearances in THE MAYFAIR BOOKSHOP. I'm a sucker for dogs, what can I say?

Fun pet fact...

Unity Mitford, on the left in the bottom row with two braids (also later in life to be a friend, and rumored mistress to Hitler), also had a pet rat named Ratular, that she would sneak into debutante balls along with her snake Enid to torment the other girls. Nice, right?

I tried to find a picture of her with her rat but alas, I have had no luck. I know I've seen it somewhere, so when I find it, I will update!

Do you have any pets? I have a Newfie, a lab/newf mix, a turtle and a hermit crab <3