Living History

"Wait for Me!" by Deborah Mitford, Duchesse of Devonshire
Farrar, Straus and Giroux 345 pages $28

She is the last of the seven Mitford children as well as having been the youngest. Her older sisters were Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity and Jessica. Brother Tom was killed in WW2.

You may be the most familiar with Nancy Mitford, who wrote screamingly funny novels that tweaked her family ("Muv" and "Farve") and society habits of the times. These books are so hilarious that 60 years later, they are still immensely popular. Unity developed an unhealthy enthusiasm for Hitler (!) and when it was clear he was outbound, she tried to commit suicide by a pistol shot to her brain. She wasn't instantly successful, but did die years later, having suffered brain damage all of that time. Jessica wrote the scathing indictment of American funeral customs.

The Dowager Duchesse now, Deborah will be 91 on March 31, 2011. A partial list of people she ran with: "Uncle Harry" aka Harold McMillan, Prince Aly Khan, Nancy Astor, Adele Astaire, Charles, Prince of Wales (nothing about Diana or Camilla) President Kennedy and indeed the entire Kennedy family.

This "I was there and this is what I saw" sort of book intrigues me and I think of it as a last chance to hear what went on rather than read the history books. Why yes! I am shallow enough to enjoy the human (read "gossip") side of things!

When her late husband, Andrew, succeeded to the family title, he decided to restore "Chatsworth" the family estate. He turned over the planning and decoration to the Mrs. Clearly she has made a real cottage industry out of the place -- guided tours, gift shop, tea room, educational programs, as well as eight books on various Chatsworth themes.

But at 90, the good Duchesse is no match for our own Joyce who is 93 this very day. Happy birthday, Joyce! See you Thursday! I want to hear how you ended this latest short story.