I seemed to be well among the landed gentry this weekend. I’m lovin’ it!
Wait for Me! by Deborah Mitford, the Duchess of Devonshire, is a coveted Christmas gift that I started reading even as the colorful wrapping was coming off of the present. I didn’t really get a chance to bite into it and chew until this weekend, especially Sunday, with the warm sun streaming in from the cold outdoors and boxes around me, as I was also taking down Christmas.
Most have removed their decorations and trees by now, but, we have always left our holiday trimmings up until the three wiseguys come. The magi, Epiphany, and then, well, it often takes a few more days. Everything has to be boxed “just so”, so all can be found next year. It usually works out pretty well, but, there is often that one or two pieces that don’t get back in the right box and after Christmas sale of something I just have to have, and, well . . .
. . . off to the red leather couch and expanse of windows facing the trees I went. Book in hand, English tea sending swirls of steam out of a China cup, and boxes, which I carefully ignored.
My all-things-Anglo friend, June, put me on to the Duchess of Devonshire a few years ago, encouraging me to read Counting My Chickens and Other Home Thoughts. We share an appreciation for our English brethren, and, I did just that, finding the book in the library. Like millions of others, I fell for the Duchess’ style and wit and was hooked. When I heard her memoirs of childhood and lifetime were being published, it was etched into my wish list for Christmas, where Tom found it and then found the book for me. Not as easy to locate here in the ‘burbs of Chicago, and, from all accounts, he must have purchased the only book around.
So, there I sat, through a good part of yesterday, immersed in the lives of the famous and infamous Mitford sisters; their and their brother Tom’s unique childhood in the England of the past century, their education, nannies, cooks and associations with the likes of Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan, the Kennedy’s and Hitler.
The Dowager Duchess is now a mere ninety years old. She is still full of what my mom would call “spit and vinegar”, which I mean in a most complimentary way. The youngest of the brood, and a girl, not a boy, she begins this book by saying that her mother wrote nothing in her diary entry for the day Deborah was born. Debo, as she is called, writes candidly about her family, the war years in England and the tragedies that befell not only the common folk, but, the landed gentry as well, and the passage of time and mores and ways of conducting oneself.
I read and read until my eyes felt too dry and then . . .
. . . Downton Abbey!
I’ve been waiting for this to find its way to PBS. Last night it did, and there I was, finishing my day in 1912, with the daily newspaper, which has arrived rather late, being ironed by the downstairs staff, as word of the sinking of the Titanic steams up from its pages and, with it, all things as known until then begin to change at Downton Abbey.
So, I will be busy from 8 ’til 9:30 the next three Sunday nights. I’ve a date with Masterpiece Theater at Downton Abbey.
Now, I really need to put those boxes away.
Oh goodness, I am jealous! I am about the billionth person on the hold list for Wait for Me at the New York Public Library…I can’t wait to read it!
Downton Abbey is inexpressibly superb – I even got into conversation with a complete stranger in a restaurant about it this weekend! I hope you love it as much as me!
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Rachel, I enjoyed Wait for Me! immensely, and I know you will as well. Funny thing. Tom said when he went to ask about it at the only Borders in the entire area (and this is a big area) where it was supposed to be, they said they didn’t have Wait for Mel. Took them a while to figure out it was an exclamation point – not an l.
Downton Abbey was well worth the wait for it to cross the ocean. It is me that is now jealous as I would have loved to be sitting there, discussing it with you. The casting is a-one, the scenery delicious, and the costuming superb! Based on your comments on your blog, I have invested in several boxes of tissue.
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I really MUST read this book,when I saw this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSAbSRcsUcY) You Tube clip about he book a few weeks ago I decided to put it on my Must Read list.
What a wonderful way to spend a day ….I find that things that need doing in and around the house wait until I am ready.
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Marilyn, this clip is precious. Thank you for linking it. I do hope you get to read it. She is so warm and witty and I enjoy her even more so hearing this, seeing her in her gardens and amongst her treasures.
It was a delightful way to spend a day. You are right. Those things eventually do get done.
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Ok, these books are the next books I am looking for as soon as I finish Gilead. They are on my list anyway. It’s not always easy to find books in our neck of the woods. We have a small library and it isn’t open all of the time. It sounds like you are really enjoying it. I haven’t seen the PBS special, but will look for it. Now for some reason your photo reminds me of when the silly Beverly Hilbillies went to England and the staff came out to greet them. Tee hee …I didn’t watch much PBS when I was a child.
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Ok, these books are the next books I am looking for as soon as I finish Gilead. They are on my list anyway. It’s not always easy to find books in our neck of the woods. We have a small library and it isn’t open all of the time. It sounds like you are really enjoying it. I haven’t seen the PBS special, but will look for it. Now for some reason your photo reminds me of when the silly Beverly Hilbillies went to England and the staff came out to greet them. Tee hee …I often watched things other than PBS when I was a child.
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Haha, Country Mouse, you clicked twice. It was the Beverly Hillbillies jab you threw this way.
We get spoiled around here with all the libraries the system includes and the hours they are open. I imagine your small library to be quite a special spot, just the same. I hope you can find it sometime. It is a delightful book to read and covers, well, it covers most of the 20th century. Those book lists never seem to get smaller, do they?
I don’t remember watching much PBS as a child – or a teenage, for that matter. We really got hooked when the cooking shows and This Old House began. Now, I couldn’t do without PBS.
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Penny, how lovely! Downton has become such compulsory watching here on every screen. And Upstairs Downstairs has started again, so it will be possible to continue your watching I expect! The Duchess is a great favourite of mine, too…heard her on Womans Hour a while ago, here on BBC Radio Four – that was inspiring- not sure if the link will bear fruit but its here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tkyyg
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Kate, I can’t wait for the next episode. I already feel as if I know the characters and know, from comments I’ve read, that I will need some tissues to see me through.
Thank you for the link. I clicked on and heard a bit, but, life called me back. I will spend some good time listening to it later this evening. Check out Marilyn’s link above (the first comment). It is just delightful from New Zealand. The Duchess is quite a woman and holds so much interesting history with her warm wit. I loved the book.
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Kate, it is close to 8:30 pm here and I just finished listening to the BBC link. Thank you, again, for linking it here. It was absolutely wonderful to hear. Her pluck and wit are, indeed, very inspiring. Much thanks. Penny
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Check out the last interview Charlie Rose did with the Duchess. It is delightful and you can find it on line. I had planned to go right out and get the book and then my memory failed me yet again.
I didn’t want to go out Sunday night because of Downtown, but I will have to find it online.
Thanks once again for sharing.
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I saw it, Bev, and it was, as you say, delightful. Charlie seemed quite smitten with the Duchess, didn’t he? There is a link above in Marilyn’s comment of an interview of the Duchess in her gardens and it is delightful as well. You should be able to just click on it.
I’m sure you can find Downton online, the they usually run these again during the week. It is very enjoyable.
You’re welcome. Life is more fun when we all share what we know.
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This is a wonderful post Penny. The Amazing mitford sisters. Oh I should be in bed.. it is late! I am putting capitals in the wrong places. But I did enjoy this post.
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Thank you, Joan. I think the capital letter works well in either place when it comes to the Mitfords. I hope you are resting well.
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I first discovered the Mitfords when I read about them in an Irish Times piece years ago. Since then each time I happen to stumble upon some mention of them I remind myself that I must read their story. Now they’re going to be on PBS, thanks for the information Penny! I hope I didn’t miss the first part of the series.
We leave our tree up until the three ‘wise guys’ arrive too… and I was doing the same thing you were on Sunday.
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They are an interesting family, Janet. The Duke of Devonshire owned Lismore Castle in Ireland at one time. They may still.
Actually, the PBS series, which is wonderful, is purely fictional. Downton Abbey started on Sunday on Masterpiece. They are sure to repeat it sometime during the week or weekend, so, check the listing. It is right up my alley in interest. Enjoy.
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I want to read Wait For Me. I so loved her ‘Chickens’ book. I’m not sure yet about DA. I wanted to love it. I was sure I’d love it. But I just don’t know. I didn’t care for the sort of melodramatic music. I didn’t care for Elizabeth McGovern in that role. I haven’t seen it all but it is waiting on the dvr. It probably didn’t help that there was a snow warning that came on the local station right when the Titanic news came. :<(
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If you liked “Chickens”, you should like Wait for Me, Nan. There are a few good links listed in comments above, if you are at all interested in getting a peek at the Duchess.
Sorry Downton Abbey isn’t working for you. Snow warnings and melodramatic music can have a dampening effect, can’t they? Sometimes the “hype” for a show can make it impossible to live up to the expectation. At any rate, stay warm and I hope the snowfall isn’t too much. It is snowing here as I write.
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