Diana Alexander

I have learned a little of the life of Pamela Mitford. I have learned of her marriage to a gifted scientist which lasted only fourteen years or so. I have learned that she did not marry again, did not have children, and may not have found love again. I learned that she experienced a pretty awful early childhood at the hands of her elder sister, but that she turned out to be a kind loving and cherished sister, who loved having all kinds of people around her. She was a wonderful homemaker and cook, loved to entertain, and loved a country life with horses and dogs, and gardening being especially important to her. The book is repetitive in places, and does not delve deeply into some aspects of her life, but nonetheless I found this book an enjoyable read.… (mehr)

Diana Alexander worked for Pamela Mitford Jackson when Pamela retired to Woodfield House at Candle Green in Gloustershire. For twelve years the author and journalist cleaned Pam’s house, worked in the stables, and helped in the field and gardens.

The book, touted as the only biography of Pamela Mitford, is hardly that. Most of the material for the first hundred pages of the 182 book is a rehash of the Mitford family with Pamela as a shadowy figure in her own biography. There is nothing new here. The reader is told that Pamela is generous and kind. She takes in the Mosley children when their parents are incarcerated due to their political beliefs and is the sister who Nancy Mitford wants by her side as she is dying of cancer.

There is only a repeat of extensively covered material about Diana the Beautiful, Unity the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Nancy the Writer, and Deborah the Duchess. Pamela relates to all of them with patience and goodness. She is married for fourteen years to one of the most accomplished and enigmatic men of the twentieth century Derek Jackson, yet the only thing one gets about the relationship is that they both like dogs and horses. Why was Derek drawn to her or she to this complicated man? The reader does not find out in this biography.

The part of Pamela’s life that Alexander personally witnessed has not more insight. Pamela is a hard worker and mucks out the stables alongside her employees, loves to cooks and is very good at it, raises chicken and vegetables and shares the largess with family and friends. All the villagers like her.

This is a biography of a nice woman. But if readers are looking for an insightful analysis of this Mitford they will be disappointed. As another reviewer Sylvia C said," But if the most exciting thing that you can find to say about a person is that they didn't change the sheets between the guests, then you probably don't have enough information to write a book." A perfect synopsis...… (mehr)

Disappointing. This is the biography of Pamela Mitford, the sister who stayed out of the spotlight. The author is a journalist who was Pamela's cleaning lady for 12 years, and the only new information that she has introduced are a few housekeeping anecdotes, and comments by neighbours. She avoided any hint of controversy about Pam, which at least was refreshing in that I don't like seeing anyone dragged through the mud. But if the most exciting thing that you can find to say about a person is that they didn't change the sheets between the guests, then you probably don't have enough information to write a book. She had so little information that she had to pad it out with stories about the rest of the family. The chapters alternate between focusing on all of the Mitfords and focusing on Pam, very frequently repeating the same information two or three times. The repetition is probably the the thing that I found most annoying. The entire book is only 186 pages, so there really isn't much space dedicated to the subject. Most of the time, the writing isn't bad, except for some convoluted sentences, but it never really grabs you. Perhaps if this had been the first book I read about the Mitfords, I would have found it more interesting.… (mehr)