"A hugely interesting portrait of a society teetering on a
precipice both nationally and internationally . . . As page turning
as a novel." -- Joanna Trollope
"A wonderfully evocative portrait of English society on the brink
of a changing world. Juliet Nicolson has invented a new kind of
social history." -- Tina Brown
"Buried deep within this deliciously evocative book, there is a
single story that involves a grand country house and a lord, a man,
not his wife, a cry of celebratory sexuality. This story alone
makes the volume's purchase price worthwhile. And there are
hundreds more like it. Juliet Nicolson has fashioned for us a
treasure-trove, doubly perfect for winter." -- Simon Winchester
"Detail makes Juliet Nicolson's portrait of a single Edwardian year
such a fascinating read. . . . I felt transported into what
Nicolson felicitously describes as 'one of the high sunilt meadows
of English history.'" -- Antonia Fraser
"Juliet Nicolson transports us back to the enchanted and enchanting
summer of 1911. She guides us through its four months in company
with some of the most delightful people imaginable. It is a
wonderful and poignant tour that proved to be a farewell appearance
to their world." -- David Fromkin
The granddaughter of Bloomsbury notables Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson chronicles the minutiae of the hot, sunny summer of 1911, when the rich crammed in a succession of parties as industrial strikes almost brought the country to a standstill, and WWI loomed on the horizon. Under Nicolson's lavish attentions, "upstairs" and "downstairs," the weighty and frivolous spring to vivid life. While Mary approached her upcoming coronation as queen with dread, Leonard Woolf fell in love with his Cambridge pal's sister, the budding novelist Virginia Stephen. The bewitching marchioness of Ripon arranged for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes to perform at Covent Garden, and the Times revealed that certain servants were selling juicy tidbits about their aristocratic employers to American newspapers. Trade unionist Mary Macarthur's fight for women's rights meshes artfully with racy novelist Elinor Glyn's adulterous affair with ambivalent lover Lord Curzon. Lady Diana Manners's tart observations of her debutante season segue to a rendezvous between a footman and a kitchen maid. Drawing on a wide variety of primary sources-from Churchill's memoirs to the tell-all What the Butler Winked At-journalist Nicolson's debut, a British bestseller, serves up a delightfully gossipy yet substantial slice of social history. Photos not seen by PW. (June) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
"A hugely interesting portrait of a society teetering on a
precipice both nationally and internationally . . . As page turning
as a novel." -- Joanna Trollope
"A wonderfully evocative portrait of English society on the brink
of a changing world. Juliet Nicolson has invented a new kind of
social history." -- Tina Brown
"Buried deep within this deliciously evocative book, there is a
single story that involves a grand country house and a lord, a man,
not his wife, a cry of celebratory sexuality. This story alone
makes the volume's purchase price worthwhile. And there are
hundreds more like it. Juliet Nicolson has fashioned for us a
treasure-trove, doubly perfect for winter." -- Simon Winchester
"Detail makes Juliet Nicolson's portrait of a single Edwardian year
such a fascinating read. . . . I felt transported into what
Nicolson felicitously describes as 'one of the high sunilt meadows
of English history.'" -- Antonia Fraser
"Juliet Nicolson transports us back to the enchanted and enchanting
summer of 1911. She guides us through its four months in company
with some of the most delightful people imaginable. It is a
wonderful and poignant tour that proved to be a farewell appearance
to their world." -- David Fromkin
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