Letters between six sisters, me, and... you?

so what's all this then

Welcome to the first installment of Mitfordiana, the email newsletter about Nancy, Pam, Diana, Unity, Decca, Debo, and me.

the impact of this tumblr post on my thought and speech patterns cannot be overstated

At the risk of accidentally writing a manifesto, I wanted to start off by setting out some of the parameters of Mitfordiana. This is not a newsletter that is slavishly devoted to tracking every mention of a Mitford in popular discourse nor will I mindlessly send you updates on every stray Mitford-related thought that comes into my head (and believe me, there are a lot). I do not intend to replicate the fannish work of The Mitford Society, nor do I care to attempt formal scholarly biographies.

Rather, to quote another beloved Tumblr post, you and I are here to participate in the premiere literary salon of strange women. The Mitford sisters, over 100 years since the birth of Nancy and eight years after the death of Debo, continue to exert a strange pull on me and lots of others. There’s just something about the novels, the memoirs, the feuds, the politics, the English country life of it all. Mitfordiana is a newsletter dedicated to unpacking this fascination.

Since I am a librarian by nature and by training, there will be a special bibliographic lens on much of what I post. You can expect reviews of Mitfordian literature of all genres, updates on my book-collecting efforts, discursive essays grappling with the unsavory bits, advice for going on a Mitfordian pilgrimage, and of course, open threads where we can force-rank the sisters to our heart’s content.

The current plan is to start off modestly at two newsletters and one open thread a month, but I’m a freak who loves writing emails, so this may change. I also reserve the right to transition to a paid newsletter model in the future, and when and if that day comes, at least one post a month will always be free for everyone. Readers are always welcome to email me at mitfordiana@substack.com to suggest topics for future posts, send questions that merit thoughtful reflection, or simply keysmash about the latest TV adaptation of Nancy’s work (more on that in due course).

For now, comments on every post are open and relatively unmoderated. Hatred and abuse towards any protected group is against Substack’s terms of use and is strictly banned. Because of who the Mitfords were and who they associated with, I will explicitly say that Mitfordiana is a space that is staunchly anti-fascist, and I will not tolerate any celebration of racism, anti-semitism, Nazism, the BUF, or white supremacy. We can be fascinated by people who held harmful beliefs without condoning or celebrating them. When discussing any topic, please be kind to me and your fellow readers.

If this all sounds good to you, go ahead and hit that subscribe button, and tell your friends to subscribe as well. You’ll hear more from me soon.

In tearing haste,

Diana