Though she was born into a wonderfully eccentric upper class English family, Jessica Mitford was set on escaping--she started a "running away" savings account at Drummond's Bank in London when she was twelve. At nineteen she eloped with her rebel cousin and they ran away together to the Spanish Civil War--an event that was Huge Big News at the time. Two of her sisters were friends with Hitler, and on hearing what Jessica had done even the poster child for evil was scandalized. (Well, that might have had something to do with her communist politics.)

It's hard not to be captivated by this memoir--Jessica Mitford stopped at nothing to follow her dreams, and so is simultaneously both inspiring and shocking. She was smart and funny, but seemed to give little thought to how her out of bounds actions and petty larcenies would affect others. Her sisters took issue with some of her facts, and there is a too-good-to-be true quality to parts of the book that's completely forgivable because without them the book wouldn't be as lively or fun. It's maybe telling that, as Jessica reports, her husband regaled some their new American friends with truth-embellished versions of their adventures--to improve the stories, she says.

There is a fascinating inner reflection in the last few pages where Jessica admits that though she and her young husband, Esmond Romily, believed they were entirely "self-made", free agents who had totally escaped any taint of their English aristocratic upbringing, their impatience, carefree intransigence, and supreme self-confidence could be easily traced to their backgrounds.

Jessica Mitford ends this mainly happy book before her husband dies while fighting in World War Two. The book is also called Hons and Rebels. A great read. ( )

One could not write fiction that contains the members of the Mitford clan and make it seem believable.

Jessica (Decca) Mitford, author of this autobiography of herself and her family, creates a very funny portrait of her famous and eccentric family. Raised with little formal education the children developed their own language and vivid childhood games yet took widely divergent paths in adulthood.

Her elder sister, Nancy, was a well-known novelist. Another sister married a prominent British Fascist, a third, the aptly named Unity Valkyrie, was an ardent Nazi and hung out with the inner circle of the Nazi regime.

Decca in rebellion against her at best conservative and at worst fascist beliefs of most of her family members becomes a support of labor and a reader of communist texts.

She elopes with Winston Churchill's nephew, Esmond Romilly to join the Spanish fight against Franco and a British destroyer is indeed sent to attempt to reclaim them.

While always engaging, the autobiography feels oddly truncated. It stops after Esmond’s enlistment in the Canadian Air Force at the start of World War II and mentions nothing of her life after his death or her work in the American Civil Rights movement. Also, certain family members are seldom mentioned.

Nonetheless, it was a fascinating read and for fans of Nancy's novels or those who have read other biographies of the Mitfords it will be an enjoyable read. I suspect those not familiar with the family would not enjoy it as much. ( )

This is a fantastic autobiography. It begins with Jessica’s early years at home with her family, the eccentric Mitfords. Every character comes vividly to life under her pen – her sardonic mother and fiery father, and each of her larger-than-life sisters: witty Nancy, headstrong Diana, conservative Pam, Hitler-obsessed Unity, romantic and wistful Deborah – and their often-overlooked brother Tom. Such strong and entertaining personalities make for hilarious reading.

Jessica successfully carries the reader through into the days when this eccentricity becomes something more ominous and oppressive. She strongly questions her family’s devoted loyalty to Conservatism, Fascism and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, instead feeling very much on the side of liberal Communism.

She runs away to the war against Franco in Spain with her spirited cousin Esmond, whom she later marries. Their exploits in France, Spain and America, living a hand-to-mouth existence and taking every lucky opportunity, make up the rest of the book, with witty and lively character portraits interspersed with poignant remembrance of her family and deep, educational discussion of politics.

Despite the heavy presences of war and politics, the book is never weighed down, though there was always a sadness in my mind that Esmond was killed shortly after the experiences detailed here. The four photos helped bring these experiences to life and allowed the reader to put names to the faces they must surely come to admire and love throughout the course of Jessica’s tale. Highly recommended. ( )

Hons and Rebels, a memoir of the life of the “commie” Mitford sister, Jessica, details the authors life from her childhood in rural England up until the time she lived in Miami in the 1940s. The Mitford clan of six sisters (Nancy wrote The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate) and one brother was an unusual one, prone to playing tricks upon one another and outsiders. Jessica grew up to embrace the ideals of the communist party, while her sister Unity became a Fascist, hobnobbing with Hitler. Jessica then ran away with and married her cousin Edwin Romilly, later moving to the United States.

It’s a brilliant memoir, poignant and funny at the same time. Although Jessica’s not always the most sympathetic character, she’s always witty, touching her story every now and then with a hint of irony. Jessica describes everything in painstaking detail, from the Cotswold countryside to certain conversations she had with various people. The memoir is evocative of the time period in which Jessica lived. ( )

brilliant style, addictive humour, moving, enlightening. One of the very best memoirs on interwar and ww2. And not at all "politically naive", just decent. ( )