This is the third book by Marie Benedict that I have read and I have enjoyed all of them. This one was special because I had heard the name of the six Mitford sisters and that they were English, but that was it. So I went into this historical novel with NO back story which is the way that I like it!!
I have read a lot of contemporary fiction lately so it was great to go back to my absolute favorite genre of historical fiction!! There were six sisters and a brother in the Mitford Family. The main characters are Nancy, Diana, Unity, and Hitler - yes, Hitler!! Secondary characters are fascism and the looming threat of war!
The Mitford family dynamic was very dysfunctional with favorite children being a huge issue by pitting the siblings against each other. The siblings naturally settled into paired sets with one leftover who became the outlier. Additionally, the family had a title and land so the children were expected to marry well (i.e.: someone with money and power) and that added to the chaos in the family. Additionally, the family was political as the father was a member of the House of Lords. The majority of the novel takes place in Germany and England pre-WWII. It was fascinating to see how the Treaty of Versailles really caused all of the mess that created the perfect vacuum for Hitler to rise to power. But, fascinatingly, he had followers in England as well.
There was some name-dropping (most of the Lords and Ladies were meaningless names to me), but there were a few biggies and they were integral to the plot. They were not just there to add color, but were important to the whole storyline!
This was a great historical novel as it makes me want to learn more! That is the sign of a well-written story!
REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.0 stars
The Mitford Affair was a well-written novel. Marie Benedict seems to become a better and stronger writer with each book that I have read of hers. This was also well-edited. I really liked that it wasn't overly populated with SAT words that I had to constantly look up and ruin the flow of the story. There were some German words sprinkled throughout, but most of them could be figured out through the context. It was obvious that this book was well-researched and it showed!!
Character development: 4.5 stars
This novel had a lot of characters, but the four main characters Nancy, Diana, and Unity Mitford have historical information such as letters and published books while the other main character Adolph Hitler has massive amounts of historical information.
Unfortunately, the Mitford parents created the dynamic that allowed Unity to become obsessed with Hitler's power and charisma which then pulled Nancy and Diana into this Nazi chaos finally ending in a stunning finale.
Even the secondary characters of fascism and the threat of war were fully fleshed out as well as the tertiary characters of the rest of the family.
Storyline: 4.5 stars
Truth is stranger than fiction, for sure! Even though the basic storyline is based on historical truth, it was mind-blowing. The difference that this family could have had in history could have been catastrophic as they were well-connected socially and politically. I was gob-smacked (to steal a Mitfordism).
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Gorgeous!
Book title: 4.5 stars
It was RIGHT on the money!
Gut feeling: 4.0 stars
I knew that I would like it, but I was thrilled that I loved it!
Definite RECOMMEND
INFORMATION/LINKS
The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict
377 pages
5 days to read it (I had a hard time putting it down today)
Read it as a LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) ebook
Release date of 01/17/2023
https://www.authormariebenedict.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5656747437
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
No comments:
Post a Comment