Nancy Mitford: A Memoir - Tapa blanda

The only biography in print of Nancy Mitford, written by her friend Harold Acton shortly after her death. Defining an exceptionally witty era whose vanishing continues to fascinate, Nancy Mitford's writings have remained steadfast in their popularity - like those of Evelyn Waugh, her male counterpart. The repackaging of Mitford's novels Love in A Cold Climate, The Pursuit of Love, Don't Tell Alfred (Penguin 2000/1) and a recent television series on the Mitfords have done much to feed the interest in her life. Harold Acton's book is driven by his intimate knowledge of her. Both belonging to a blissfully carefree generation, he shows her as she thought of herself and was seen by those closest to her. Formidable, loyal, amusing and determined, her life was tragic only in that she knew exactly how to handle her fate with a supreme wit reminiscent of Bridget Jones' diaries.

Like many of Nancy Mitford's friends, Harold Acton was gay and part of the Brideshead generation. Independently wealthy with La Pietra, a huge estate in Florence, his brilliant narrative writing made him one of Britain's most-loved writers. His The Bourbons was recently reissued with great success (Prion 1998).