{"title":"Nancy Mitford","description":"Nancy Mitford, daughter of Lord and Lady Redesdale and the eldest of the six legendary Mitford sisters, was born in 1904 and educated at home on the family estate in Oxfordshire. She made her debut in London and soon became one of the bright young things of the 1920s, a close friend of Henry Green, Evelyn Waugh, John Betjeman, and their circle. A beauty and a wit, she began writing for magazines and writing novels while she was still in her twenties. In all, she wrote eight novels as well as biographies of Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, Louis XIV, and Frederick the Great. She died in 1973. More information can be found at www.nancymitford.com.","products":[{"product_id":"the-blessing-paperback-1","title":"The Blessing - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Blessing \u003c\/i\u003eis one of Nancy Mitford's most personal books, a wickedly funny story that asks whether love can survive the clash of cultures.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Grace Allingham, a naïve young Englishwoman, goes to live in France with her dashingly aristocratic husband Charles-Edouard, she finds herself overwhelmed by the bewilderingly foreign cuisine and the shockingly decadent manners and mores of the French. But it is the discovery of her husband's French notion of marriage--which includes a permanent mistress and a string of casual affairs--that sends Grace packing back to London with their \"blessing,\" young Sigismond, in tow. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile others urge the couple to reconcile, little Sigi--convinced that it will improve his chances of being spoiled--applies all his juvenile cunning to keeping his parents apart. Drawing on her own years in Paris and her long affair with a Frenchman, Mitford elevates cultural and romantic misunderstandings to the heights of comedy.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50103719592159,"sku":"9780307740830","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/hmwIRpug0m9780307740830.webp?v=1781097500"},{"product_id":"dont-tell-alfred-paperback","title":"Don't Tell Alfred - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this delightful comedy, Fanny--the quietly observant narrator of Nancy Mitford's two most famous novels--finally takes center stage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFanny Wincham--last seen as a young woman in \u003ci\u003eThe Pursuit of Love \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eLove in a Cold Climate\u003c\/i\u003e--has lived contentedly for years as housewife to an absent-minded Oxford don, Alfred. But her life changes overnight when her beloved Alfred is appointed English Ambassador to Paris. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSoon she finds herself mixing with royalty and Rothschilds while battling her hysterical predecessor, Lady Leone, who refuses to leave the premises. When Fanny's tender-hearted secretary begins filling the embassy with rescued animals and her teenage sons run away from Eton and show up with a rock star in tow, things get entirely out of hand. Gleefully sending up the antics of mid-century high society, \u003ci\u003eDon't Tell Alfred \u003c\/i\u003eis classic Mitford.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50104278155487,"sku":"9780307740847","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/tlmcIiu-eA9780307740847.webp?v=1781104555"},{"product_id":"highland-fling-paperback","title":"Highland Fling - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eHighland Fling\u003c\/i\u003e--Nancy Mitford's first novel, published in 1931--a set of completely incompatible and hilariously eccentric characters collide in a Scottish castle, where bright young things play pranks on their stodgy elders until the frothy plot climaxes in ghost sightings and a dramatic fire. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInspired in part by Mitford's youthful infatuation with a Scottish aristocrat, her story follows young Jane Dacre to a shooting party at Dulloch Castle, where she tramps around a damp and chilly moor on a hunting expedition with formidable Lady Prague, xenophobic General Murgatroyd, one-eyed Admiral Wenceslaus, and an assortment of other ancient and gouty peers of the realm, while falling in love with Albert, a surrealist painter with a mischievous sense of humor. Lighthearted and sparkling with witty banter, \u003ci\u003eHighland Fling\u003c\/i\u003e was Mitford's first foray into the delightful fictional world for which the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Pursuit of Love \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eLove in a Cold Climate \u003c\/i\u003elater became so celebrated. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith an Introduction by Julian Fellowes, creator of \u003ci\u003eDownton Abbey.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50104779669727,"sku":"9780345806956","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Ah01F-UTEg9780345806956.webp?v=1781111302"},{"product_id":"wigs-on-the-green-paperback","title":"Wigs on the Green - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eNancy Mitford's most controversial novel, unavailable for decades, is a hilarious satirical send-up of the fascist political enthusiasms of her sisters Unity and Diana, and of her notorious brother-in-law, Sir Oswald Mosley. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWritten in 1934, early in Hitler's rise, \u003ci\u003eWigs on the Green \u003c\/i\u003elightheartedly skewers the devoted followers of British fascism. The sheltered and unworldy Eugenia Malmain is one of the richest girls in England and an ardent supporter of General Jack and his Union Jackshirts. World-weary Noel Foster and his scheming friend Jasper Aspect are in search of wealthy heiresses to marry; Lady Marjorie, disguised as a commoner, is on the run from the Duke she has just jilted at the altar; and her friend Poppy is considering whether to divorce her rich husband. When these characters converge with the colorful locals at a grandly misconceived costume pageant that turns into a brawl between Pacifists and Jackshirts, madcap farce ensues. Long suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to family feelings, \u003ci\u003eWigs on the Green \u003c\/i\u003ecan now be enjoyed by fans of Mitford's superbly comic novels.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50104817942751,"sku":"9780307740854","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/7uyAgWDcsD9780307740854.webp?v=1781111381"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/nancy-mitford.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}