Nancy Mitford

Nancy Mitford (1904-1973), English writer. Daughter of the 2nd Baron Redesdale, Mitford moved in London society circles. She managed a London bookshop during World War II, and went to live in Paris after the liberation. She satirized the British aristocracy in novels such as The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949), which were followed by The Blessing (1951) and Don’t Tell Alfred (1960). Clever, and almost malicious in tone, they would now seem very much a product of a particular social milieu, and written for that same exclusive readership, were it not for their sophistication in formal terms, and the way that Mitford’s lords and ladies step out of their shells (many were based on real people) and take on larger, more archetypal proportions. She also wrote a number of biographies, including Madame de Pompadour (1954), Voltaire in Love (1957), The Sun King (1966), and Frederick the Great (1970). As a contributor to the anthology of essays and occasional pieces about social class, Noblesse Oblige (1956), which she also edited, she formulated the categories “U” and “non-U”, to distinguish between the socially acceptable and non-acceptable. Her sister, Jessica, also a writer, described their upbringing in Hons and Rebels (1960).