“I think housework is far more tiring and frightening than hunting is, no
comparison, and yet after hunting we had eggs for tea and were made to rest for
hours, but after housework people expect one to go on just as if nothing special
had happened.”
― Nancy Mitford
Aristocratic life is an occasional theme in my writing. Like many, I have toured
English stately homes and dreamed about their glamorous lifestyles, but I
suspect that my interest has almost entirely been influenced by Nancy Mitford,
eldest daughter of a baron, commentator on manners and one of the funniest
writers of the 20th century.
During the writing of my latest book, RED DIRT DUCHESS, there
were more than a few moments when I sat back in my chair, closed my eyes and
asked, ‘what would Nancy say?’
The five Mitford sisters were infamous. All beauties and almost all eccentric,
two had dubious fascist connections (Hitler, Mosley), another was a communist,
whilst the youngest, Deborah, became the Duchess of Devonshire. Was there ever a
family more divided by ideology than the Mitfords?
Amongst them, the eldest, Nancy, remained resolutely, delightfully madcap and
had no truck with dictators or fascism.
As one of the Bright Young People of the 1920’s her earliest books are
screamingly funny satires of the English Upper Classes. In later life, after
she’d turned to writing comedies of manners, she was embarrassed by these early
stories, but I love them. Obvious from these books is that life in these stately
homes isn’t always as it appears. Lack of money, deteriorating houses, poor food
and boredom are all hallmarks of the English aristocratic family down on their
luck but determined to keep up appearances. That everyone is prepared to live
like this because of the importance of inheritance and bloodlines is one of the
themes I explore in my latest book, in which a young British aristocrat is put
under enormous pressure to marry someone ‘suitable’ and start a family.
I fell in love with Nancy’s work when I read The Pursuit of Love. Over the year
I’ve collected all the Mitford books, biographies and collected letters, and
even went so far as to stay at the Hotel Montalembert, the Parisian hotel to
which beautiful English aristocrat Linda Radlett is spirited away by the dashing
Fabrice, Duc de Sauveterre, when he finds her stranded at the Gare de Lyon.
Nancy Mitford is also famous for editing the book Noblesse Oblige, a collection
of essays on the concept of U (Upper-class)and non-U (non-Upper-class) language.
Detecting a person’s class by the way they speak and the words they use has been
with us forever, but it was her devastatingly witty take on the subject, that
was refreshing.
RED DIRT DUCHESS
When English society playboy Jonathan Hartley-Huntley is sent to outback
Australia after a disastrous affair with his editor, all he wants is to take a
few pictures, do a quick interview and get back to his usual life of luxury as
soon as possible. Until he meets his host, the irresistible Charlie Hughes, and
suddenly the back of beyond is a lot more appealing.
Running the pub is a labour of love for Charlie and she has no desire to ever
leave the tiny town of Bindundilly. That is, until Jon discovers an old painting
that raises questions about both their lives. Charlie impulsively decides to
follow him to London, and as the feelings between them begin to deepen, she
starts to wonder if there's more to life than the pub. But at Jon's family home,
the magnificent Hartley Hall, they become acutely aware of the differences
between them, and it soon seems clear they have no future together – especially
if Jon's mother has her way.
Family and tradition threaten the course of true love in this warm and witty
novel from the author of Outback Bride and Her Italian Aristocrat.
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