The Six
The Lives of the Mitford Sisters
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Narrated by:
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Maggie Mash
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By:
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Laura Thompson
About this listen
The eldest was a razor-sharp novelist of upper-class manners; the second was loved by John Betjeman; the third was a fascist who married Oswald Mosley; the fourth idolized Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany; the fifth was a member of the American Communist Party; the sixth became Duchess of Devonshire.
They were the Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Born into country-house privilege in the early years of the 20th century, they became prominent as "bright young things" in the high society of interwar London. Then, as the shadows crept over 1930s Europe, the stark - and very public - differences in their outlooks came to symbolize the political polarities of a dangerous decade.
The intertwined stories of their stylish and scandalous lives - recounted in masterly fashion by Laura Thompson - hold up a revelatory mirror to upper-class English life before and after WWII.
The Six was previously published as Take Six Girls.
©2015 Laura Thompson (P)2016 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Zelda Fitzgerald was the mythical American Dream Girl of the Roaring Twenties who became, in the words of her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, "the first American flapper." Their romance transformed a symbol of glamour and spectacle of the Jazz Age. When Zelda cracked up, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, Scott remained loyal to her through a nightmare of later breakdowns and final madness.
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Charlotte Brontë's life contained all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired. Like Jane Eyre, she was raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors and sent away to a brutally strict boarding school at a young age. Charlotte grew up and watched helplessly as, one by one, her five beloved siblings sickened and died; by the end of her short life, she was the only child of the Brontë clan remaining.
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They were confidantes to British prime ministers, poets, writers, and artists, their lives entwined with the most celebrated and scandalous figures of the day, from Oscar Wilde to Henry James. They were the lovers of great men - or men of great prominence... They lived in a world of luxurious excess, a world of splendor at 44 Belgrave Square and later at the even more vast Clouds, the exquisite Wiltshire house on 4,000 acres, the "house of the age", designed in 1876 by the visionary architect Philip Webb - the model for Henry James' The Spoils of Poynton.
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SLOW START BUT STICK WITH THIS ONE
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Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy was the incandescent life force of the fabled Kennedy family, her father's acknowledged "favorite of all the children" and her brother Jack's "psychological twin". She was the Kennedy of Kennedys, sure of her privilege, magnetically charming, and somehow not quite like anyone else on whatever stage she happened to grace.
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Not what I had hoped for.
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Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774 Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying William Cavendish, fifth Duke of Devonshire, one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats. She became the queen of fashionable society and founder of the most important political salon of her time.
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Captivating Biography with Outstanding Narration
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For fans of the Netflix series The Crown and from the author of the New York Times best seller 17 Carnations comes a captivating biography of Wallis Simpson, the notorious woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne.
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This one is being returned
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What listeners say about The Six
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lisa B. Hamilton
- 08-09-18
Detailed
Too much detail for me. Written for British audience. Fascinating story, but I got lost in the minutia.
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1 person found this helpful
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- L. Locker
- 09-18-24
All the Mitford At Once. Consider The Book
The Mittfords as a unit were a worthy topic for a biography.. and this one is well written. The book moves through time and place so all sisters appear and disappear as they're lives are lived.
My only performance complaint was small: the over-top slow over enunciated ACCENT for all quotes was annoying to me at times.
Not being very familiar with this family, I struggled to keep them straight in my head while listening.
Their hilarious multitude of nicknames and supporting cast of wealthy friends, suitors, lovers, and husband's was a bit of a mush at times.
It would be better to read not listen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-27-18
The Six
Splendid....I loved this book....being of English heritage, I just dove in...I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have...
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- D. Bowlander
- 06-16-19
Sisters
I had four sisters and enjoyed reading that there were other poor parents out there who struggled with their daughters. We weren't the only crazy ones.
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- Dawn
- 12-31-22
Interesting but left me really disliking this family
I feel like this author kept trying to excuse so much disturbing behavior of these sisters. Especially the 2 that admired Hitler, simply because they were witty and thick skinned. They were definitely interesting women but were also a perfect example of the rich and privileged in England that looked down there noses at most people.
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1 person found this helpful
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- SK
- 10-16-16
what a family
you don't know whether to like them or not but you always find them interesting. initially the "story" was hard to follow but once you got the names straight it was smooth sailing.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Jane Consumer
- 10-19-19
Surprise Ending
After a delightful read, it has the strangest ending in my 50+ years of reading. Just drops off.
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- Mariann Straub
- 03-06-23
Charming and complicated
Detailed review of entire family. Great fun and enlightening of an age gone by. Highly recommend
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- Claire L. Robinson
- 12-20-16
Astonishing Narrator
I've always been interested in the Mitford story and quite enjoyed this book. The narrator, Maggie Mash, is absolutely fantastic and really made this book listenable. She is wonderful at conveying the distinct language and infle
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9 people found this helpful
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- Belvedere
- 06-22-17
The True Story
The Mitford family has (in recent decades) fascinated those inclined to the mix of controversy, whimsy and Old English Aristocracy. But it's never been easy to know them in truth. They've had a way of writing and speaking what they want the public to think. This well researched book cuts through it all, and we enjoy and marvel at all the complexities of six very difference competing girls through to womanhood. A very interesting family, fun and furious at the same time.
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4 people found this helpful