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A review by kevin_shepherd
Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
5.0
“Those who tangled with Ms. Mitford always knew they had been in a fight.” -Christopher Hitchens
Had I not known this was a memoir I might have thought it an imaginative adventure novel. Born into upper crust English society in 1917 Jessica Mitford came of age within a family where fascism was in vogue and Hitler was, at least to her older sister Unity, a personal acquaintance. In a family of prewar brown-shirt sympathizers, rebellious Jessica was the ‘red sheep.’
What exactly is a Hon?
The American that I am always proves to be something of a handicap when reading English authors. Hon here in Oklahoma is verbal shorthand for “Honey” and is used as a term of endearment. Apparently in England (correct me in the comments if I’m wrong) it is an abbreviation for ‘Honorable’ and annotates a person’s title or social status. The Hons of Hons and Rebels is neither honey nor particularly honorable, but rather a nod to the secret childhood society Jessica and her sister Deborah formed, which was itself a nod to her mother’s chickens.
“Contrary to a recent historian’s account of the origin of the Hons the name derived, not from the fact that Debo and I were Honorables, but from the Hens which played so large a part in our lives . . . The H of Hon, of course, is pronounced, as in Hen.” (pg 6)
On the Right Side of History
By the time Jessica Mitford published this memoir (1960) she had already made her mark as “a great muckraking journalist” and an activist in the American Civil Rights movement. It seems that no matter where life took her or who she rubbed elbows with she was never above committing herself to the fray of a just cause. This memoir is a window into a portion of that life—1917 to around 1941. It is written with the clarity of hindsight and with an inordinate amount of humor and grace. Easily 5 stars.
Had I not known this was a memoir I might have thought it an imaginative adventure novel. Born into upper crust English society in 1917 Jessica Mitford came of age within a family where fascism was in vogue and Hitler was, at least to her older sister Unity, a personal acquaintance. In a family of prewar brown-shirt sympathizers, rebellious Jessica was the ‘red sheep.’
What exactly is a Hon?
The American that I am always proves to be something of a handicap when reading English authors. Hon here in Oklahoma is verbal shorthand for “Honey” and is used as a term of endearment. Apparently in England (correct me in the comments if I’m wrong) it is an abbreviation for ‘Honorable’ and annotates a person’s title or social status. The Hons of Hons and Rebels is neither honey nor particularly honorable, but rather a nod to the secret childhood society Jessica and her sister Deborah formed, which was itself a nod to her mother’s chickens.
“Contrary to a recent historian’s account of the origin of the Hons the name derived, not from the fact that Debo and I were Honorables, but from the Hens which played so large a part in our lives . . . The H of Hon, of course, is pronounced, as in Hen.” (pg 6)
On the Right Side of History
By the time Jessica Mitford published this memoir (1960) she had already made her mark as “a great muckraking journalist” and an activist in the American Civil Rights movement. It seems that no matter where life took her or who she rubbed elbows with she was never above committing herself to the fray of a just cause. This memoir is a window into a portion of that life—1917 to around 1941. It is written with the clarity of hindsight and with an inordinate amount of humor and grace. Easily 5 stars.