From Publishers Weekly
Don't confuse the Curzon sisters with the Mitfords, whose biography comes out this month (see The Sisters, Forecasts, Nov. 12, 2001), although the fascist Oswald Mosley married one of each. Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, an avowed antifeminist who valued women if they were ornamental, produced three highly decorative daughters: Irene, Cynthia (Cimmie) and Alexandra (Baba). They were to lead largely inconsequential lives, but their wealth and social position put them close to the center of British political power from 1920 until the end of WWII. The eldest, Irene, never married, devoting herself first to the pursuit of foxes and married men, and later to charity work and the bottle. Cimmie had the misfortune to wed Oswald Mosley, a notorious womanizer and founder of the British Union of Fascists. Mosley bedded a string of women, including wife Cimmie's two sisters and her stepmother, until his wartime imprisonment (by then, he'd divorced Cimmie to marry Diana Guinness, n‚e Mitford). The youngest daughter, Baba, who was married to Fruity Metcalfe, an amiable if rather dim friend of the Duke of Windsor, had a talent for adultery with rich and powerful men that she exercised in the stately homes of England, while her husband occupied himself supporting the duke in his immensely comfortable exile in France. Though this well-researched book teems with political figures (e.g., Chamberlain, Mountbatten, Halifax) during a perilous historical period, we see them not as they decide the fate of nations, but with their trousers down. Their antics make the present crop of royals and members of Parliament look positively staid. 32 pages of b&w illus. not seen by PW. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
British journalist de Courcy has written numerous biographies of the British elite as well as one book on etiquette. This time, she focuses on the daughters of the colorful, controversial viceroy of India, Lord Curzon (whose second daughter married fascist Oswald Mosely). All the Curzon sisters entertained and bedded the A-list of the British elite of the last century, and the author uses the sisters as the fulcrum of a story that includes the Windsors, Mitfords, Guinnesses, Astors, and the Dorchester and Clivedon sets, plus many more of that vanishing upper stratum that ruled Britain and influenced the entire 20th century. De Courcy had access to unpublished diaries and correspondence of these toffs, and her acknowledgments are profuse and star-studded. Celebrity lovers will adore this book, which covers all aspects of the lives of this elite group its wealth, manners (both ill bred and upper crust), lusts, and political intrigues. Sadly, the last chapters disappoint; de Courcy simply condenses too many of the last decades of the Curzon sisters' lives into one lump, leaving readers wanting more. Still, this entertaining romp is recommended for all public and academic libraries. Gail Benjafield, St. Catharine's P.L., Ont.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
De Courcy has written an irresistible triple biography of three of the most fascinating "bright young things" on the glittering British social scene of the 1920s and 1930s. Irene, Cynthia, and Alexandria Curzon, the daughters of Lord Curzon, the former viceroy of India, lived lives of incredible wealth and privilege. Beautiful, talented, and intelligent, they sought to leave an indelible mark on British society. Through numerous friendships, marriages, and affairs, their lives were intertwined with those of some of the most socially and politically influential members of the British upper crust, including the Astors, the Mosleys, and the Windsors. Utilizing unpublished letters and diaries, the author has managed to trace and to interweave the remarkable stories of three sisters whose lives were, to a great extent, influenced and shaped by their complex relationships with one another. This intimate family portrait is chock-full of tantalizing glamour and gossip. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Based on unpublished letters and diaries, The Viceroy's Daughters is a riveting portrait of three spirited and wilful women who were born at the height of British upper-class wealth and privilege.
The oldest, Irene, never married but pursued her passion for foxes, alcohol, and married men. The middle, Cimmie, was a Labour Party activist turned Fascist. And Baba, the youngest and most beautiful, possessed an appetite for adultery that was as dangerous as it was outrageous.
As the sisters dance, dine, and romance their way through England's most hallowed halls, we get an intimate look at a country clinging to its history in the midst of war and rapid change. We obtain fresh perspectives on such personalities as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Oswald Mosley, Nancy Astor and the Cliveden Set, and Lord Halifax. And we discover a world of women, impeccably bred and unabashedly wilful, whose passion and spirit were endlessly fascinating.
About the Author
Anne de Courcy is a well-known writer and journalist. In the 1970s she was the women's editor on the London Evening News and in the 1980s she was a regular feature writer for the Evening Standard. In 1992 she joined the Daily Mail, where she has written interviews, historical features and book reviews as well as edited a page on readers' dilemmas. She has written eight books including The English in Love, 1939: The Last Season, Circe: The Life of Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry and a biography of Diana Mosley that will appear after the subject's lifetime. She lives in London.
The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters FROM THE PUBLISHER
Irene (born 1896), Cynthia (born 1898) and Alexandra (born 1904) were the three daughters of Lord Curzon, viceroy of India from 1898 to 1905 and probably the grandest and most self-confident imperial servant Britain ever possessed. After the death of his fabulously rich American wife in 1906, Curzon embarked on a long love affair with the novelist Elinor Glyn, before dropping her to marry his rich and beautiful second wife. It was his fierce determination to control every aspect of his daughters' lives - including the money that was rightfully theirs - that led them one by one to revolt against their father. The three Curzon sisters were at the very heart of the fast and glittering world of the twenties and thirties. Irene, intensely musical and a passionate fox hunter, had love affairs with the glamorous Melton Mowbray hunting set. Cynthia (Cimmie) married Sir Oswald Mosley, joining him first in the Labour Party, where she became a popular and successful Labour MP herself, then following him into fascism. Alexandra (Baba), the youngest and most beautiful, married the Prince of Wales's best friend - and best man - Fruity Metcalfe. On Cimmie's early death in 1933, Baba flung herself into a long and passionate affair with Mosley and a liaison with Mussolini's ambassador to London, Count Grandi, while simultaneously enjoying the romantic devotion of the foreign secretary, Lord Halifax." Based on unpublished letters and diaries, The Viceroy's Daughters throws new light on Oswald Mosley, Nancy Astor and the Cliveden set, Lord Halifax, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. It is also a wonderfully revealing portrait of British upper-class life in the first half of the twentieth century.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Don't confuse the Curzon sisters with the Mitfords, whose biography comes out this month (see The Sisters, Forecasts, Nov. 12, 2001), although the fascist Oswald Mosley married one of each. Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, an avowed antifeminist who valued women if they were ornamental, produced three highly decorative daughters: Irene, Cynthia (Cimmie) and Alexandra (Baba). They were to lead largely inconsequential lives, but their wealth and social position put them close to the center of British political power from 1920 until the end of WWII. The eldest, Irene, never married, devoting herself first to the pursuit of foxes and married men, and later to charity work and the bottle. Cimmie had the misfortune to wed Oswald Mosley, a notorious womanizer and founder of the British Union of Fascists. Mosley bedded a string of women, including wife Cimmie's two sisters and her stepmother, until his wartime imprisonment (by then, he'd divorced Cimmie to marry Diana Guinness, n e Mitford). The youngest daughter, Baba, who was married to Fruity Metcalfe, an amiable if rather dim friend of the Duke of Windsor, had a talent for adultery with rich and powerful men that she exercised in the stately homes of England, while her husband occupied himself supporting the duke in his immensely comfortable exile in France. Though this well-researched book teems with political figures (e.g., Chamberlain, Mountbatten, Halifax) during a perilous historical period, we see them not as they decide the fate of nations, but with their trousers down. Their antics make the present crop of royals and members of Parliament look positively staid. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
British journalist de Courcy has written numerous biographies of the British elite as well as one book on etiquette. This time, she focuses on the daughters of the colorful, controversial viceroy of India, Lord Curzon (whose second daughter married fascist Oswald Mosely). All the Curzon sisters entertained and bedded the A-list of the British elite of the last century, and the author uses the sisters as the fulcrum of a story that includes the Windsors, Mitfords, Guinnesses, Astors, and the Dorchester and Clivedon sets, plus many more of that vanishing upper stratum that ruled Britain and influenced the entire 20th century. De Courcy had access to unpublished diaries and correspondence of these toffs, and her acknowledgments are profuse and star-studded. Celebrity lovers will adore this book, which covers all aspects of the lives of this elite group its wealth, manners (both ill bred and upper crust), lusts, and political intrigues. Sadly, the last chapters disappoint; de Courcy simply condenses too many of the last decades of the Curzon sisters' lives into one lump, leaving readers wanting more. Still, this entertaining romp is recommended for all public and academic libraries. Gail Benjafield, St. Catharine's P.L., Ont. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
From English journalist de Courcy, an un-thrilling biography of the daughters of Lord Curzon, whose lives seem an exercise in privilege with only a measure of excitement. English statesman and viceroy of India, Lord Curzon was a peer of the realm with a substantial boodle. Chancellor of Cambridge and rector of Glasgow University, with a backbone as supple as reinforced concrete, he was anxious for a male heir but found himself instead with daughters Irene, Cynthia, and Alexandra. Here, he's portrayed as a distant father, aloof and stiff, but unconstrained by the rules of marriage, and his daughters apparently also displayed his gamut of personality types. They were neither milquetoasts nor shrinking violets, fire-breathers nor buckers of the status quo, of which they were happy beneficiaries: they had fat trusts from their maternal grandfather, allowing them a latitude others couldn't dream of. With the death of the girls' mother, Curzon grew even more removed from his daughters, who very much took on lives of their own, and after his remarriage, he became to them "little more than a disappointing presence." One daughter became involved in a forgettable way with the Wallis Simpson affair with Edward VIII, and another devoted her years to charity work, a choice elevating her to near-sainthood in this brood. The third, Baba-Alexandra-had a long, convoluted, and sordid relationship with the dreadful Tom Mosley, a drummer throughout Britain of support for fascism who, says Baba, had "stimulating provocative ideas" and a "sharp-edge wit." There are unexpected glimpses of how easily influenced the policies of English government could be, but there are just as many crises over whether to wear agray or black jacket with striped pants for dinner. Little to keep you absorbed when second-rate palace intrigue is the only thing on the menu.
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