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The six : the lives of the Mitford sisters / by Thompson, Laura,1964-author.; revision of:Thompson, Laura,1964-Take six sisters.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The eldest was a razor-sharp novelist of upper-class manners; the second was loved by John Betjeman; the third was a fascist who married Oswald Mosley; the fourth idolized Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany; the fifth was a member of the American Communist Party; the sixth became Duchess of Devonshire. They were the Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Born into country-house privilege in the early years of the 20th century, they became prominent as "bright young things" in the high society of interwar London. Then, as the shadows crept over 1930s Europe, the stark--and very public--differences in their outlooks came to symbolize the political polarities of a dangerous decade. The intertwined stories of their stylish and scandalous lives--recounted in masterly fashion by Laura Thompson--hold up a revelatory mirror to upper-class English life before and after WWII."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Biographies.; Mitford family.; Mitford, Jessica, 1917-1996.; Mitford, Nancy, 1904-1973.; Mitford, Pamela, 1907-1994.; Mitford, Unity, 1914-1948.; Mosley, Diana, 1910-2003.; Devonshire, Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, Duchess of, 1920-2014.; Authors, English; Sisters; Women authors, English;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Heiresses : the lives of the million dollar babies / by Thompson, Laura,1964-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."New York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson returns with Heiresses, a fascinating look at the lives of heiresses throughout history and the often tragic truth beneath the gilded surface. Heiresses: surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair. Before the 20th century a wife's inheritance was the property of her husband, making her vulnerable to kidnap, forced marriages, even confinement in an asylum. And in modern times, heiresses fell victim to fortune-hunters who squandered their millions. Heiresses tells the stories of these women: Mary Davies, who inherited London's most valuable real estate, and was bartered from the age of twelve; Consuelo Vanderbilt, the original American "Dollar Heiress", forced into a loveless marriage; Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heiress who married seven times and died almost penniless; Patty Hearst, heiress to a newspaper fortune who was arrested for terrorism. However, there are also stories of achievement: Angela Burdett-Coutts, who became one of the greatest philanthropists of Victorian England; Nancy Cunard, who lived off her mother's fortune and became a pioneer of the civil rights movement; Daisy Fellowes, elegant linchpin of interwar high society and noted fashion editor. Heiresses is about the lives of the rich, who-as F. Scott Fitzgerald said-are 'different'. But it is also a bigger story about how all women fought their way to equality, and sometimes even found autonomy and fulfilment"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Anecdotes.; Personal narratives.; Heiresses; Rich people; Upper class women; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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