Deborah Devonshire is the most excellent of women and it's official, I adore her. I love that she is elegant but will get her hands dirty, that she is a lady yet will be in on the joke, that she lives with opulence but is practical (she wears the same overcoat pictured on the covers of her last two books). That she loves animals and has owned a border collie or two endears her to me beyond measure. Home to Roost is the perfect read to snuggle up with and put a smile on your face. Ms Debo, as Alan Bennett calls her in the introduction, has the most fantastic sense of wit and it runs throughout her writing. Arising out of the enthusiasm of these new rural dwellers, I confidently expect the ones we know will soon by joined by Save the Rat Society, the Protection of Maiden Aunts in the Country Association, Family Planning for Rabbits (this will need a large staff), the Barbed Wire Heritage Group... Lady Aberdeen scattered autumn leaves on her tablecloth. (They look like potato crisps but never mind, they were a change from ferns and carnations).
When I missed the Dowager Duchess by one hour at Hatchard's in May, the sales assistant said to check with them on my next visit. She apparently stops by the shop to sign books a few times a year. In Home to Roost, Deborah writes that she always wonders if anyone will show up at these events to purchase a book or want to meet her and is surprised that many people do. She can not be oblivious to her charms, perhaps it is the etiquette of humility, but I would gladly meet with this sublime Duchess any day. By my estimation 'Ms Debo' is 89 years old, I hope that she is around for many more years to write many more books. She is a gem.
Sometime when you are in the UK you should visit Chatsworth house - really good day out!
ReplyDeleteHave you read much about the Mitfords? I find them a fascinating family.
The book sounds wonderful...as does the Duchess herself! K x
ReplyDeleteverity, I started reading The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters before heading to London, a great one for dipping in and out of. Fascinating family indeed! Visiting Chatsworth is definitely on my list of places to visit one day and I believe Deborah owns a townhouse in Mayfair as well. It was pointed out to us during a London Walk in 2005, oh the life!
ReplyDeletekristina, I wish that I had bought the Chatsworth cookbook at Hatchards as well now. Next time...D x
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely read Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford (autobio) and Love in a cold climate/In pursuit of love by Nancy Mitford (fiction very much based on their lives) if you haven't.
ReplyDeleteI live very close to where they grew up!
This book sounds wonderful, and the author must be quite a lady, too! I'd love to read it.
ReplyDeleteverity, they are both titles that I would really like to read in the near future, you could easily have a whole year of reading all things Mitford couldn't you! Very interesting about you living close to where the family lived, there's probably snippets of Mitford lore floating around.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, it would be great if your library has any of her books, take a peek!
Yes, it's fun to make a little pilgrimage out to Swinbrook where they lived and look at their graves!
ReplyDeleteThere's also a slightly pop, but very readable and enjoyable biography, called The Mitford Girls by Mary Lovell. I refused to put this down, aged 18, and insisted on reading it all the way through Sunday lunch... I'm not sure how I got away with it as I wasn't allowed to read at mealtimes...
verity, LOL! Reading through mealtimes, a girl with my own heart.
ReplyDeleteIt's the thing that makes my partner working late and having to eat on my own bearable! (when I lived by myself I'd always dish up a book with my entree).
ReplyDeleteI've seen this book pop up in a place or two, and I hate to admit it, but I didn't realize that she's a Mitford! I still have plans to read some things by and about them this year, but the months are flying by (how does that happen?). I'll have to look this book up now.
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