Marilyn French: the author whose novel did change lives

How sad to read in the Guardian today that Marilyn French had died [obituary]. I looked out my battered copy of the 'The Women's Room'. It was easy to find between a copy of a novel by Micheal Frayn which I don't remember ever reading, and my collection of Stephen Fry novels and autobiographies. Like Kate Mosse (Guardian G2 tribute article), I first read 'The Women's Room' as an undergraduate and some of its messages have stayed with me and to a certain extent shaped my life. Mira, the central character of the novel, chooses to pursue her own academic career rather than accept the inevitable compromises of following her academic boyfriend. The ending is a very poignant picture of a solitary female academic watching a noisy family on the beach, the family of her erstwhile boyfriend. I made the opposite decision; my husband's academic career continues to prosper, I've followed him across three continents and we have a very noisy family of teenagers. I don't have any regrets 25 years after I made that first decision to follow my heart rather than my academic calling.

Another book of Mitford Letters

I've been an avid reader of the books and letters of the Mitford sisters for years so I was very pleased to see the article about another book of letters in the Times Magazine today. There are still tickets left for the book launch at Chatsworth on September 1st. I'm very tempted to go:
    "Sir Tom Stoppard in conversation with Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and Charlotte Moseley"
Unfortunately  I'm supposed to be going on a work awayday to discuss learning and teaching. I'll have to make do with putting the book on my Amazon wishlist. 

More Mitford stuff

There was a Channel 4 documentary about Unity Mitford on TV last night. It was part of the High Society season. I hadn't seen any trailers on the TV but spotted a posting on Facebook. I'm a member of a Facebook group called 'The Mitford Sisters Were Incredible'.

It was lovely to see the old news footage of Unity and her parents, Lord and Lady Redesdale, returning to the UK in 1939 after Unity's failed suicide attempt. The highlight for me was the interview with Diana Mosely filmed in 1999. Diana, like her younger sister Unity, was a friend and supporter of Hitler before and during the second world war. Diana died in 2003 and was 89 at the time of the interview. The main premise of the documentary, outlined by the presented Martin Bright in his New Statesman Blog, was that Unity was pregnant with Hitler's baby when she returned to the UK. Unfortunately for the documentary makers the only eye witness who consented to be interviewed said that Unity didn't have a baby.

You can view the complete documentary on 4 on Demand. It is free for 30 days after transmission but may well continue to be available for free after that. I have a copy on my Sky+.

Picture from the Daily Mail