NANCY MITFORD (1904–1973) was the eldest daughter of Lord Redesdale. She grew up with her five sisters and one brother on the family estate. A beauty and a wit, she became one of the "bright young things" of the 1920s, and a close friend of Henry Green, Evelyn Waugh, John Betjeman, and their circle. She began writing novels while in her twenties. In all, she wrote eight novels and four biographies (of Madame de Pompadour, Louis XIV, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great).
