Fascinating reading, a remarkable woman
he glittering letters of British socialite Lady Diana Cooper to her son John Julius Norwich, from pre-World War Two London to post-Liberation Paris

‘Please, darling monster, write as often as you can. It’s so sad waiting for letters that don’t come and are not even written. I love my darling boy. Don’t treat me so badly again or I’ll have your lights and liver when I get home.’ 19 November 1939

‘I wish, I wish it was all over – Hitler defeated, the lights up again and the guns still.’ 2 October 1940

Lady Diana Cooper was the Edwardian It Girl who inspired novelists from Evelyn Waugh to Nancy Mitford. Born Lady Diana Manners, she was an aristocrat, society darling and an actress. Married to political star Duff Cooper, they were the golden couple at the heart of 20th century British upper-class life. This extraordinary collection of letters written by Diana to her only son, John Julius Norwich, takes us from the rumblings of war, through the Blitz to rural Sussex to post-Liberation Paris.

Beyond all the glitz, Diana emerges in these letters as highly intelligent, funny and fiercely loyal: a woman who disliked extravagance and was often shy, who was happiest in the countryside and whose greatest love were her husband and son John, who would later become a leading historian and broadcaster. These illuminating letters document some of history’s most dramatic events, but they provide a vivid and touching portrait of the love between a mother and son, separated by war, oceans – and the constraints of the time they lived in.

‘Diana Cooper is as vivid in literature and social legend as she was in life. Her letters are frank, witty and humorous’ The Times ( )

I am probably way out of line, and perhaps I am betraying my lack of sound historical understanding, but maybe it's not such a great idea to have a son edit his mother's letters that she wrote to him when he was an adolescent. Maybe I'm being churlish, but I can't help but think that someone outside the family romance would have made better choices of what to leave out - and probably there would be fewer repetitive letters (that go on for page after page) of Lady Diana complaining about her servants, or making allusions to society gossip that probably interested only 50 or 60 people at the time.

There are some witty bits, particularly about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Also, Lady Diana's letters about living in London during the Blitz are a tremendously valuable resource of history. But - IMHO - not really enough of the "good stuff" to justify 465 pages of text. ( )

bookshelves: epistolatory-diary-blog, nonfiction, published-2013, winter-20132014
Recommended to ☯Bettie☯ by: Laura
Recommended for: BBC Radio Listeners
Read from December 15 to 20, 2013


BOTW

BBC description: This new book contains the letters sent from aristocrat, society darling and actress of stage and early screen, Lady Diana Cooper, to her only son, John Julius Norwich.

When Lady Diana married rising political star Duff Cooper, they became the golden couple who knew everyone who was anyone. Her letters serve as a portrait of a time, capturing some of history's most dramatic events and most important figures with immediacy and intimacy. But they also give us a touching portrait of the love between a mother and son, separated by war, oceans and the constraints of the time they lived in.

Her letters span the years 1939 to 1952, taking in the Blitz, Diana's short spell as a farmer in Sussex, a trip to the Far East when husband Duff was collecting war intelligence, the couple's three years in the Paris embassy, as well as a great number of journeys around Europe and North Africa.

Read by John Julius Norwich and Patricia Hodge

Producer: David Roper Abridger: Barry Johnston

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

2. Lady Diana sets up a smallholding in Sussex for the war effort. She will not dig for victory, but will certainly milk a cow in order to produce her own cheese.

3. Lady Diana moves into the French embassy, along with her husband the politician Duff Cooper and his lover Louise de Vilmorin. Their parties become legendary.

4. Duff and Diana Cooper continue their travels, taking in Venice, Marrakesh, Tangier, Algiers and Seville. At home in 1949, all hopes are pinned on the dawn of a new era.

5. John Julius Norwich is now a student at Oxford, while his mother Lady Diana Cooper continues to live in France. Her husband Duff is offered a peerage.

Couldn't muster any interest over this one. At one point she calls someone a bore because they insisted on talking about their bomb when one is only interested in one's own bomb.

I would expand to say that one cannot take interest in another's letters (aren't letters supposed to be private?), however that renders me as similarly crass.

Next! and please let it be worth my time. ( )