Customer Reviews
Charlotte Mosley has hit Mitford pay dirt again! - By: Geoffrey Woollard, 19 Oct 2008 
I gave a golden glowing review of "Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters," and, using gold-mining metaphors, Charlotte Mosley (married to a 'Mitford' nephew) has tapped the precious Mitford treasure pit again with "In Tearing Haste," a compilation of splendid letters exchanged over many years by her aunt-by-marriage, Deborah (Duchess of) Devonshire (née Mitford), & her fine & faithful friend, the writer & World War II hero, Patrick (Paddy) Leigh Fermor. (The relationship is supposed to have been platonic, but I really don't give a damn if it has been more, as it was & is most clearly a closely intimate & loving one).
I don't know how many people write 'proper' letters these days, & I have no idea how many such people also retain their correspondence, but it is evident that Mrs Mosley has hit pay dirtin a big way with her editing of 'Mitford' family letters, & she does it with panache & knowledgeable & loving skill, for her selections are superb & her notes are almost as entertaining & informative as the letters themselves. The latest work is well up with the earlier.
But no editor can hit pay dirt without the auriferous ore being present, & the letters themselves are pure gold. Those from 'Darling Paddy' are longer, more descriptive & better written, coming as they did from an extraordinarily good writerin his own right, but those from 'Darling Debo' are both lovely & loving - & amazing, too, coming as they did from a lady who claims never to have read a book (I don't believe a word of it!).
The two writers struck chords (I'm changing metaphors now) with each other for fifty-plus years & I doubt that we shall see, hear or be permitted to read the like again. I loved the book & commend it to readers who enjoy having an arm's-length or proxy relationship with such unusual & interesting people who lived (and are still living, thank goodness) through such interesting timesin such splendid style.
Buy several copies of this book for Christmas presents, read one yourself, & then share the hundreds of historical & literary nuggets as widely as you can!
Such warmth of characters and such humour - Must read 2008!! - By: F. Gourlay, 10 Sep 2008 If you have read & loved Charlotte Mosley's wonderful Mitford Letters this will definitely not disappoint!!
Their writing styles, & indeed life styles are markedly different - Paddy's erudite, descriptive, precise & exuberant letters serve to remind us why he is often considered the greatest travel writer of our time. His wonderful descriptions of his adventures bring to life so many different places - from Devon to the Andes to Eastern Europe & back to Derbyshire. He tells stories about upsetting Somerset Maugham with his stammering jokes; about his feat of swimming across the Hellespont aged 69; about rounding up wild horsesin Chagford; & about his time building his home Kardamyli with his wife Joan.
DD writes a shrewd description of life as a Duchess restoring Chatsworth. She never fails to raise a smile with her insightful & honest accounts of a whirlwind of social engagements with such a wide variety of well-known twentieth century figures. From Evelyn Waugh, whom on one occasion sends the famously self-professed illiterate DD a proof of his new book, The Life of Robert Knox with the inscription "You won't find a wordin this to offend your Protestant sympathies" - the pages werein fact completely blank. She describes he friendship with "The Loved One" (John F Kennedy) & dinners with the characterful Bohemian Iris Tree. Intimate encounters with the Royal Family - including one such "cotton dress" chance meeting with The Queen Mother - who Debo famously refers to as 'Cake' - at the Tate Gallery. Interspersed with these engagements she writes to Paddy with stories of her family - Andrew & her three children & certainly her Sisters & of course, she details her incredible renovation of the beautiful Chatsworth House. Despite leading such an incredible life, she always remains so down to earth - on one occasion Mario Testino arrives at Chatsworth to do a photo shoot for Vogue's 90th birthday. DD is photographed with her granddaughter Stella Tennant, she describes the shoot:
" [Stella's] Hair skewbald/piebald, all colours & stuck upin bits. THEN they produced "shoes" with 6 inch heels. More stilts - she could hardly put one footin front of the other, wobbling & toppling.
We looked just like that Grandville drawing of a giraffe dancing with a little monkey. I was the monkey."
The truly charming thing, however, about this excellently edited collection, is the genuine love & friendship that is so abundantin these letters. Mosley describes DD & PLF as sharing "youthful high spirits, warmth & generosity". This comes acrossin the letters so wonderfully. This book is a lovely account of two such different characters who share a marvellous appetite for life & an even greater friendship.
