Ask Bookie
Overview
Mimi Pond crafts a gorgeous, dazzling biography of the Mitford Sisters
Born with pedigrees but without the pocketbooks to match, The Mitfords were certainly no strangers to lies, intrigue, or scandal. Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. All six sisters were weaned on their family's well-documented upper class eccentricities: a ne'er do well would-be entrepreneur father; a stern, stiff-upper-lipped mother; a revolving door of governesses of varying propriety, all against the backdrop of a crumbling estate falling into disrepair. The sisters grew from cloistered turn-of-the-century country girls into debutantes who would marry into political influence--for better or worse. Is it any wonder that a young, working class Mimi in Southern California becomes enamored with The Mitfords' downright fanciful rich-and-famous lifestyle? This charming, inventively cartooned, and lovingly researched biography captures the dramatic, over-the-top antics of high society's strongest personalities as they rubbed elbows with some of history's most infamous fascists and communists. Pond's genius for classic cartooning in the vein of the Vanity Fair caricature and the satirical illustrations of Charles Addams brings the aesthetic decadence of the 1920s and '30s to life with effortless aplomb, warts and all.Customers Also Bought
- 1
Details
- ISBN-13: 9781770468047
- ISBN-10: 1770468048
- Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
- Publish Date: September 2025
- Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 1.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
- Page Count: 444
Related Categories
You May Also Like...
- 1
Author-illustrator Mimi Pond (Over Easy, The Customer is Always Wrong) became fascinated by the notorious Mitford sisters in her 60s, as they reminded her of the "world of glamor” she craved as a child. Born between 1904 and 1920, the six Mitfords—Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah—had ties to the aristocracy and complicated love lives. But despite these fascinating details, their lives soon became anything but glamorous. As the family finances struggled and the world pitched into World War II, the sisters were carried along vastly different, and sometimes shocking and reprehensible, paths. Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me flows back and forth between snippets of Pond’s life and the chaotic lives of this strange and complicated family. We see Nancy's writing career and flings with other writers, Unity's friendship with Hitler and self-inflicted head injury, Jessica's devotion to anti-fascist work and her deep love for her gambling, anti-fascist husband, Deborah's unintentional inheritance of a dukedom, Diana's unrepentant devotion to fascism, and Pam's quiet and understated reliability as the resident farmer. In particular, the moments where Pond highlights the small nuances of the sisters’ relationships will fascinate. Pond's art style pulls inspiration from Charles Addams and the classic New Yorker cartoonists she grew up reading. (Pond is now a regular contributor to The New Yorker.) While this results in striking visuals, the hand-lettered text in a range of font styles can occasionally be difficult to follow on the page, and those who struggle with keeping track of names and nicknames (of which the Mitford sisters infamously used many) may be occasionally confused. Still, Do Admit will be a lovely addition to the shelves of New Yorker fans and Mitford sister enthusiasts, as well as anybody who is interested in unconventional World War II history.
Author-illustrator Mimi Pond (Over Easy, The Customer is Always Wrong) became fascinated by the notorious Mitford sisters in her 60s, as they reminded her of the "world of glamor” she craved as a child. Born between 1904 and 1920, the six Mitfords—Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah—had ties to the aristocracy and complicated love lives. But despite these fascinating details, their lives soon became anything but glamorous. As the family finances struggled and the world pitched into World War II, the sisters were carried along vastly different, and sometimes shocking and reprehensible, paths. Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me flows back and forth between snippets of Pond’s life and the chaotic lives of this strange and complicated family. We see Nancy's writing career and flings with other writers, Unity's friendship with Hitler and self-inflicted head injury, Jessica's devotion to anti-fascist work and her deep love for her gambling, anti-fascist husband, Deborah's unintentional inheritance of a dukedom, Diana's unrepentant devotion to fascism, and Pam's quiet and understated reliability as the resident farmer. In particular, the moments where Pond highlights the small nuances of the sisters’ relationships will fascinate. Pond's art style pulls inspiration from Charles Addams and the classic New Yorker cartoonists she grew up reading. (Pond is now a regular contributor to The New Yorker.) While this results in striking visuals, the hand-lettered text in a range of font styles can occasionally be difficult to follow on the page, and those who struggle with keeping track of names and nicknames (of which the Mitford sisters infamously used many) may be occasionally confused. Still, Do Admit will be a lovely addition to the shelves of New Yorker fans and Mitford sister enthusiasts, as well as anybody who is interested in unconventional World War II history.