Do you Downton?

6.12 The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

I missed out on Downton Abbey the first time it showed on PBS; I had just watched the Upstairs/Downstairs reboot and wasn’t interested in watching, what felt like, the same show.  Then PBS showed repeats during Christmas and I loved tucking in on those cold Sunday nights to watch Carson and Mrs. Hughes continually try to be hard asses, to watch Mary be insufferably annoying, and, of course, to watch Mr. Bates – my god, Mr. Bates.  Plus, the Dowager – seriously she is the best. I have even sucked Chris into watching the second season, which I like but am not wild about.  Frankly, there are just too many people to keep track of.  Anyway, I have come across many, “What to read if you like Downton Abbey” lists and The Sisters turned up on one.  My mom’s lovely friend gave it to her, she then lent it to me, only to have in languish on my huge TBR pile.

I am glad that it languishes no more!  And my god these Mitford girls! Wow.  How great to read about women who did exactly as they wanted without for one moment fretting over not being treated as equals (granted they were rich so that helped).  Quite refreshing really, even though some clearly should have stepped back a bit.  They are writers and lovers, divorcees and mistresses.  Fascists and Nazis, mothers and aunties.  But mostly they are family and even though they disagree with each other, hate each other, and are quite awful to each other, they are always family.

But I must digress for a moment over the nicknames, my god the nicknames!  Why are there not more nicknames on Downton?

Nicknames:

            David – Farve

            Sydney – Muv

            Nancy – Susan

            Pamela – Woman

            Thomas –

            Diana – Honks, Cord

            Unity – Bobo, Boud

            Jessica – Decca, Hen, Susan (again)

            Deborah – Debo, Little D

*Um, why did Tom get left out of the fun? And poor Pam, poor poor Pam... 

Of all the girls I identified most with Debo, the current Duchess of Devonshire, who as the youngest and kind of missed out on the glory days of her family’s togetherness and instead watched as it all fell apart.  It is hard to watch as older siblings leave home and branch out in to their own belief systems that often include damning their way of growing up.  I am the youngest of six, but also feel very much like an only child.  It has always been an odd place for me to be and has very much shaped who I am and how I treat people.  I approach almost everything with a sense of doom instead of wonder.