S.and the sisters for as many detective stories. Jessica Fellowes – “Yes, Julian Fellows, creator of Dowton Abbey is my uncle” – writes in her Instagram bio, has just come out with her latest effort dedicated to the six Mitford sisters which, well before the scandals of Carlo, Camilla and Diana, fascinated the English press and public opinion between the two world wars.
The case of the missing sister (Neri Pozza), penultimate novel of the saga, is dedicated to Jessica Mitford who abandoned a life of ease to pursue an ideal. The communist one.
Jessica Fellowes and the charm of history
Released in 2017, The assassination of Florence Nightingale Shore is the first volume of the famous saga with over 100 thousand copies sold. The strong point of the trend, as the English writer-journalist Jessica Fellowes has often told, is the perfect mix of yellow, historical events and vintage setting. Thanks to the strong and successful presence of the six Mitford sisters, daughters of Baron Redesdale.
The Mitford sisters were Baron Redesdale’s daughters. They also had a brother, Thomas David Mitford, third child and only son.
Within the novels, history is intertwined with history: between investigations – in the new episode they are conducted by the sisters’ ex nanny and her ex-policeman husband -, details of costume, fashion, society and real events. The first book is set in 1920 the new episode in ’37, the ingredients to fascinate readers are all there.
The sixth and final book of the saga will be set in 1941, when the British were forced to hide in the underground subway, as is happening these days in Kiev. The latest in a series of parallels between past and present that have not escaped either Fellowes or readersmore and more passionate about the events of the six English sisters.
To each Mitford sister, her yellow
Perhaps less known in Italy, although their biography of Mary S. Lovell was also popular with us a few years ago, the Mitford sisters were, sometimes in spite of themselves, always at the center of social and press attention between the thirties and forties. Today defined as the Kardashians of the time, the sisters were very close although each had a very strong character. And it is on these very strong personalities that Jessica Fellowes has based her entire saga.
Nancy, the eldest and the toughest, is the protagonist of the first adventure, The assassination of Florence Nightingale Shore. Growing up Nancy will become a brilliant writer, her works are hers Don’t tell Alfred And Love in a cold climateand at the end of the war he will move to Paris, becoming the lover of a French minister. Pamela, the quiet and peaceful second child, a lover of the countryside, is instead in the center of Death of a young man with high hopes set in 1925 London.
Pamela Mitford (Getty Images)
TO Diana, the most beautiful, is dedicated Scandal in the Mitford house while ne The Mitford trial infatuation begins to be told of Unity for Hitler which then will also develop into the latest novel just out, the one dedicated to Jessica Mitford, the author’s favorite sister. To finish the saga is therefore only missing Deborah, future Duchess of Devonshire, as well as grandmother of the famous British model Stella Tennant sadly passed away at the age of 50.
The success of a series
Absolutely rebellious, involved in many scandals of the time and extremely feminist, the Mitford sisters continue to fascinate current generations with theirs exciting lives and their strong and independent character, despite living in a society that still imposed marriage and children on women.
All aspects that the author has been able to deepen and enhance in her own saga, allowing the reader to immerse themselves completely in another world and get to know it thoroughly. A period, the one between the two world wars, which today is sadly familiar again.
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