A review by whats_margaret_reading
Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford

5.0

Jessica Mitford's sarcastic and witty tone is directed at her own family in her memoir, Hons and Rebels, of her life growing up in aristocratic English family during the 1920's and 30's. Her upbringing, education by governesses, and adventures with her large family (including some very eccentric sisters) are right out of a 19th century novel for girls, or a PBS period drama. At the same time, Jessica is growing up when her parents strongly believe in the old-fashioned perspectives of the English peerage, her sisters Unity and Diana become involved with Fascism, and Jessica's socialist leanings conflict with both. Her family goes through numerous uproars, including when Jessica's older sister Nancy starts publishing her novels including Wigs on the Green, a thinly veiled parody of the Mitford family. Jessica eventually runs away to marry her cousin, who is also the nephew of Winston Churchill, and they move to America and make their way as the war begins. The memoir ends just as World War II is beginning, leaving the reader to find out more about Jessica's postwar career as a muckraking journalist.

Mitford's lively and biting prose, as well as her (mis)adventures in her early life, paint a portrait of a society ready to change as well as a family undergoing great upheaval. Her perspective is historically interesting as well as entertaining, and Jessica Mitford is one writer I am very fortunate to have discovered by accident.