Nancy Mitford

What was Nancy Mitford's wicked sense of humour really like?

The writer and poet Harold Acton was - like Nancy Mitford herself - one of the Bright Young Things and a life-long close friend with whom she stayed in touch from Paris and London.

From the letters and materials she had been gathering for her autobiography, Acton draws an irresistibly sparkling portrait of the author of "Love in a Cold Climate" and "The Pursuit of Love", who was so unhappy in love herself.

Full of her waspish wit, gossip, and the drops of acid she liked to pour on the pretensions of her time, he paints a fresh portrait that is unlikely to be surpassed.