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A review by eruby
Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
This was such an interesting memoir. It is about the coming-of-age and political awakening of an aristocratic young women who later became a prominent socialist and civil rights advocate in America. But this book is really more about her romance with her first husband, figuring out how to survive in the working class world after having everything handed to you as a child. Their adventures gallavanting around the U.S. were like something out of a novel rather than a memoir- charming their way into various jobs and social groups without any long-term plans. All of this against the back drop of Hitler's rise to power and the looming world war.
I really liked reading her impressions of Americans compared to Brits- our friendliness and warmness towards strangers, the pride in our country even among left-leaning people, the character of different cities. After reading lots of travel memoirs this year I was interested to hear that perspective on Americans, even from 75 years ago. I was charmed by their enthusiastic naivete that got them into some problems and I was struck by the eloquence and self-awareness that she spoke about some of those issues in the memoir. A lot of the stuff she writes about still seem relevant today, like the issues of talk vs. action among upper and middle class leftists. The only parts I found a bit dull were the parts about the larger political context as Britain figured out what to do about Hitler. And I only found it dull because I didn't learn all the details of Britain's position leading up to WWII so there were some names and events mentioned that I didn't have the context for.
I really liked reading her impressions of Americans compared to Brits- our friendliness and warmness towards strangers, the pride in our country even among left-leaning people, the character of different cities. After reading lots of travel memoirs this year I was interested to hear that perspective on Americans, even from 75 years ago. I was charmed by their enthusiastic naivete that got them into some problems and I was struck by the eloquence and self-awareness that she spoke about some of those issues in the memoir. A lot of the stuff she writes about still seem relevant today, like the issues of talk vs. action among upper and middle class leftists. The only parts I found a bit dull were the parts about the larger political context as Britain figured out what to do about Hitler. And I only found it dull because I didn't learn all the details of Britain's position leading up to WWII so there were some names and events mentioned that I didn't have the context for.