The Blessing
by Nancy Mitford
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It isn't just Nanny who finds it difficult in France when Grace and her young son, Sigi, are finally able to join her dashing aristocratic husband, Charles-Edouard, after the war. For Grace is out of her depth among the fashionably dressed and immaculately coiffured French women, and shocked by their relentless gossiping and bed hopping. When she discovers her husband's tendency to lust after every pretty girl he sees, it looks like trouble. And things get even more complicated when little show more Sigi steps in.The Blessing is a hilarious tale of love, fidelity, and the English abroad. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Of Nancy Mitford I’d previously read only one novel, Wigs On the Green, a satire of British Mosleyite blackshirts published in 1935 and never allowed to be republished by Mitford in her lifetime. The ridiculousness of British fascists seemed like a fine thing to joke about in 1935, but on reconsideration in the late 1940s, not so much. Wigs on the Green was witty and good but not great.
This one is great. At the outset of the war, Grace Allingham dumps her dull British fiancé and marries a handsome and charming French aristocrat who is with her only long enough to leave her expecting a baby, and then disappears for seven years to become a war hero. After the war they are reunited and move to France to raise their son. She tries to show more come to terms with French society and especially the French way of marriage.
Grace’s love of France and the French, coupled with her difficulty of adjusting to French society and its mores, is heavily autobiographical; Mitford moved to France to be with the man with whom she fell in love during the war, Colonel Gaston Palewski, de Gaulle’s right hand man in London, and she never again lived in England. Palewski was serially unfaithful. (Nevermind that Nancy was still married to the man she’d married in the ‘30s; they were amicably separated and didn’t divorce until the late ‘50s.)
Say this for Nancy Mitford: If you’re one of the famous Mitford sisters, much better to be the one the one that is known to have been enamored of the French, rather than one of those that fell in with German Nazis (Diana married Oswald Mosley and openly admired Hitler for many years after the war; Unity insinuated herself into the inner circle of Nazi high command and then shot herself in the head when the Germans lost), or the Soviets (Jessica was an enthusiastic Stalinist and party member nearly her whole life). I guess another one, mostly forgotten, was principally interested in horses, so that might also be fine.
Speaking of Jessica (Decca) Mitford, the Commie one, her memoir of the Spanish Civil War and life in the American Communist Party (she moved to Oakland after marrying an American and spent the rest of her life there) titled A Fine Old Conflict (1977) is hilarious and fantastic.
The Blessing is very funny and highly readable.
Also recommended is the collection of Nancy’s letters with Evelyn Waugh.
A final note: I usually read a book with a pen in my hand so that I can underline or bracket the pertinent bits for future reference or inclusion in the Old Rectory Newsletter, and to inscribe trenchant and enlightening marginalia like “haha” or “lol.” But as I was uncapping my Lamy upon starting this one, I paused for a moment for fear that it might be a first edition. I checked and in fact it was a first edition, a clean copy with intact dust jacket. I decided that I didn’t care and that I’d proceed to mark it up provided it was worth less than $50. So I looked it up and sadly they appear to sell for around $200. Not bad considering that I picked it up at a Friends of the Library book sale I don’t know when for $1. show less
This one is great. At the outset of the war, Grace Allingham dumps her dull British fiancé and marries a handsome and charming French aristocrat who is with her only long enough to leave her expecting a baby, and then disappears for seven years to become a war hero. After the war they are reunited and move to France to raise their son. She tries to show more come to terms with French society and especially the French way of marriage.
Grace’s love of France and the French, coupled with her difficulty of adjusting to French society and its mores, is heavily autobiographical; Mitford moved to France to be with the man with whom she fell in love during the war, Colonel Gaston Palewski, de Gaulle’s right hand man in London, and she never again lived in England. Palewski was serially unfaithful. (Nevermind that Nancy was still married to the man she’d married in the ‘30s; they were amicably separated and didn’t divorce until the late ‘50s.)
Say this for Nancy Mitford: If you’re one of the famous Mitford sisters, much better to be the one the one that is known to have been enamored of the French, rather than one of those that fell in with German Nazis (Diana married Oswald Mosley and openly admired Hitler for many years after the war; Unity insinuated herself into the inner circle of Nazi high command and then shot herself in the head when the Germans lost), or the Soviets (Jessica was an enthusiastic Stalinist and party member nearly her whole life). I guess another one, mostly forgotten, was principally interested in horses, so that might also be fine.
Speaking of Jessica (Decca) Mitford, the Commie one, her memoir of the Spanish Civil War and life in the American Communist Party (she moved to Oakland after marrying an American and spent the rest of her life there) titled A Fine Old Conflict (1977) is hilarious and fantastic.
The Blessing is very funny and highly readable.
Also recommended is the collection of Nancy’s letters with Evelyn Waugh.
A final note: I usually read a book with a pen in my hand so that I can underline or bracket the pertinent bits for future reference or inclusion in the Old Rectory Newsletter, and to inscribe trenchant and enlightening marginalia like “haha” or “lol.” But as I was uncapping my Lamy upon starting this one, I paused for a moment for fear that it might be a first edition. I checked and in fact it was a first edition, a clean copy with intact dust jacket. I decided that I didn’t care and that I’d proceed to mark it up provided it was worth less than $50. So I looked it up and sadly they appear to sell for around $200. Not bad considering that I picked it up at a Friends of the Library book sale I don’t know when for $1. show less
64/2020. I found the first two-thirds somewhat dull scene-setting but can't criticise the quality of prose or pacing, and there are occasional enjoyable one-liners to enliven proceedings. After the Blessing, seven year old Sigismond, comes into his own as a character then more entertaining society shenanigans ensue in the final third. The senior mistress, Albertine Marel-Desboulles, is by far the most interesting character, although I would also cheerfully read a novel about any of the Aunts.
Reading notes
Bunbury Park will never stop being amusing, obviously.
Nanny, during the war, with her best complaint of the book: "If he'd had been called after his father he could have been Charlie, or Eddy, but Sigi - ! Well, I don't care to say it show more in the street, makes people look round."
Thank you comrade Nancy: "They could not be the clever girls they were without seeing life a little bit through Marx-coloured spectacles" show less
Reading notes
Bunbury Park will never stop being amusing, obviously.
Nanny, during the war, with her best complaint of the book: "If he'd had been called after his father he could have been Charlie, or Eddy, but Sigi - ! Well, I don't care to say it show more in the street, makes people look round."
Thank you comrade Nancy: "They could not be the clever girls they were without seeing life a little bit through Marx-coloured spectacles" show less
I came away from this novel wondering about Nancy Mitford's attitude towards children. The title is ironic, the child it refers to is anything but a blessing. His name is Sigismond and he is manipulative and scheming, and focused entirely on what he perceives to be in his own interest. His affection for others, including his parents, is entirely based on what they are willing to lavish on him. He is revealed as a child who will betray anyone to get what he wants, and he appears to have no redeeming features at all. He is illustrated there on the cover, twirling his black curls, a mannerism he displays when concealing the truth. Continued
A book that was quite a success in 1951, which is frivolous and amusing, but I would prefer to read it as a social satire rather than a romance or celebration of the life of some very rich people. Nancy Mitford was a member of a privileged, well connected family and was at home in writing a novel about rich and privileged people; it is a world where the only poor people one might meet are the servants. Money and position is everything and to readers outside that social circle (which is the vast majority) it must appear like a sort of fantasy land. We all like to laugh at the "nobs" whose world in reality hardly touches ours. I laughed along with many readers of the book, but was always unsure how deep the satire was meant to show more penetrate.
The novel tells the story of Grace Allingham's adventures in the marriage market. She falls in love with the Frenchman Charles-Edouard a charming cavalier of a man always wanting to move on to the next thing and a serial womaniser. After a whirlwind romance they are married and soon Grace is pregnant with her first child Sigi (the blessing). Grace is happily married and enjoys the high society life in Paris and turns a blind eye to her husbands dalliances with other women. Charles-Edouard's continual absence from home starts to annoy her and when she catches him in bed with another woman who she believed was a childhood friend, she leaves him and returns to her family home in England. Sigi is a resourceful child of seven years and he discovers that living with both parents, one in France the other in England for an agreed portion of the year; he gets the best of both worlds and the second part of the novel are his increasingly desperate attempts to keep his mother and father apart.
The most obvious satire is the difference between the French, the English and the Americans. Francophiles will love this book, Americans perhaps not so much. Paris high society according to the novel soon gets back to how things were before the second world war. rationing, food shortages hardly get a mention, all is light and glamour and the whirl of Parisian life and the charm of the chateaus in the countryside is compared to the crabby lifestyle in England. Grace loves the culture, the good manners, the more modern approach to love and sex and the conversations around the banqueting tables. Grace's American friend in Paris; Carolyn Dexter is not so enamoured, finding it difficult to get into the society and appalled by the less than sanitary arrangements. Grace's nanny finds the garlicky food inedible and keeps young Sigi away from the horrible rough french children.
The charming energetic Charles-Edouard is everything that a man with privilege and money can be in free wheeling society in Paris. Grace is willing to forgive him almost everything because of her own position as his wife, his charm and success reflects on her and that is enough for her. This message comes through loud and clear in a book which might not be in tune with more 21st century thinking. Grace does assert her independence to the extent that she can afford to go back to her father Sir Conrad, but it is only the machinations of Sigi that keeps her away from Charles-Edouard.
Nancy Mitford's prose flows nicely throughout the book, her characters are well drawn and are not lampooned to the extent that they are unbelievable. They sometimes do crazy things, but then they are rich enough to get away with it. They certainly do nothing to harm their own position, but how light can it be, I asked myself, should I be enchanted by their lifestyles. The novel has some funny moments and never fails to amuse, light. frothy entertainment with satire pitched at a level that rarely gets below the surface. Nancy Mitford moved to Paris in 1946 and became a firm francophile and this is certainly reflected in her novel and so as an ex-pat myself I give it three stars. show less
The novel tells the story of Grace Allingham's adventures in the marriage market. She falls in love with the Frenchman Charles-Edouard a charming cavalier of a man always wanting to move on to the next thing and a serial womaniser. After a whirlwind romance they are married and soon Grace is pregnant with her first child Sigi (the blessing). Grace is happily married and enjoys the high society life in Paris and turns a blind eye to her husbands dalliances with other women. Charles-Edouard's continual absence from home starts to annoy her and when she catches him in bed with another woman who she believed was a childhood friend, she leaves him and returns to her family home in England. Sigi is a resourceful child of seven years and he discovers that living with both parents, one in France the other in England for an agreed portion of the year; he gets the best of both worlds and the second part of the novel are his increasingly desperate attempts to keep his mother and father apart.
The most obvious satire is the difference between the French, the English and the Americans. Francophiles will love this book, Americans perhaps not so much. Paris high society according to the novel soon gets back to how things were before the second world war. rationing, food shortages hardly get a mention, all is light and glamour and the whirl of Parisian life and the charm of the chateaus in the countryside is compared to the crabby lifestyle in England. Grace loves the culture, the good manners, the more modern approach to love and sex and the conversations around the banqueting tables. Grace's American friend in Paris; Carolyn Dexter is not so enamoured, finding it difficult to get into the society and appalled by the less than sanitary arrangements. Grace's nanny finds the garlicky food inedible and keeps young Sigi away from the horrible rough french children.
The charming energetic Charles-Edouard is everything that a man with privilege and money can be in free wheeling society in Paris. Grace is willing to forgive him almost everything because of her own position as his wife, his charm and success reflects on her and that is enough for her. This message comes through loud and clear in a book which might not be in tune with more 21st century thinking. Grace does assert her independence to the extent that she can afford to go back to her father Sir Conrad, but it is only the machinations of Sigi that keeps her away from Charles-Edouard.
Nancy Mitford's prose flows nicely throughout the book, her characters are well drawn and are not lampooned to the extent that they are unbelievable. They sometimes do crazy things, but then they are rich enough to get away with it. They certainly do nothing to harm their own position, but how light can it be, I asked myself, should I be enchanted by their lifestyles. The novel has some funny moments and never fails to amuse, light. frothy entertainment with satire pitched at a level that rarely gets below the surface. Nancy Mitford moved to Paris in 1946 and became a firm francophile and this is certainly reflected in her novel and so as an ex-pat myself I give it three stars. show less
It does feel good to read another Nancy Mitford. Her style is easily spotted in a crowd, I find. Her wit is sharp, to the point, her characters unforgettable and The Blessing is no exception. Such eccentricity in one book, it's amazing how she does it without making it too cliché. I found the essentialist statements to be well below her usual standards (the constant French/English comparisons are frankly strange though it has a context at least) but on the other hand in one scene one of her best characters convinces another one that homosexuality is no worse or better than heterosexuality. I was bracing myself for the inevitable moment when it would be linked to misogyny (in a 'you see, men are so much superior to women, who can blame show more men for fancying other men' sort of way) but surprisingly enough it wasn't. Such an unexpected relief.
Overall an entertaining book, though not her best it's a good, fun story. show less
Overall an entertaining book, though not her best it's a good, fun story. show less
Loved this quintessentially Nancy Mitford story, filled with eccentric characters, witty observations of class and English-French distinctions, delightful frivolities. Sigismond you petit monster!
I picked this one from a metafilter list of happy books. It was a nice bit of dated fluff about wealthy folk in France and England just after WWII. Grace had impetuously married a charming Frenchman just before the war and 7 years later finally moves in with him and their son. All are wondering how she will react to his womanizing ways. I was surprised at the frank discussions about adultery and homosexuality that popped up here and there in mostly non-judgmental terms (oh so decadent!). Sometimes it dragged and the child was annoying, but was nice living in their cozy world of culture and parties and pretty dresses for a while.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- La moglie inglese
- Original title
- The Blessing
- Original publication date
- 1951
- People/Characters
- Grace de Valhubert; Charles-Edouard de Valhubert; Sigismond de Valhubert; Nanny
- Important places
- United Kingdom; Alconleigh, England, UK (fictional); Bunbury Park, Wiltshire, England, UK (fictional)
- Important events
- World War II (1939 | 1945)
- Related movies
- Count Your Blessings (1959 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- To Evelyn Waugh
- First words
- "The foreign gentleman seems to be in a terrible hurry, dear."
- Quotations
- "If he'd had been called after his father he could have been Charlie, or Eddy, but Sigi - ! Well, I don't care to say it in the street, makes people look round."
Presently two incongruous, iron-clad figures appeared, clicking their tongues, the Dexter and Valhubert nannies in search of their charges. They peered about, turning over an occasional body, and looking like nothing so much ... (show all)as two tragic mothers after some massacre of innocents. Sigi was found in the arms of the Reine Margot; Foss had crept into a corner and been terribly sick. [...] Bearing away the little bodies, their faces glowing with a just indignation, the two English nannies vanished into the night.
They could not be the clever girls they were without seeing life a little bit through Marx-coloured spectacles - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"What you need, my child, is a family of little brothers and sisters, and we must try to see that you get them. And now, please, run along and find Nanny."
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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