Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9125 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 164 pages

About the Author
Deborah Devonshire is married to Andrew, the 11th Duke and lives at Chatsworth, Derbyshire. She has previously written books on the House, Garden and Estate at Chatsworth, and was one of the famous Mitford sisters, which included the authors Nancy and Jessica

Customer Reviews

Witty and pithy
I couldn't put this book down! Deborah Devonshire is a wonderfully successful business woman and an author with a touch of the Mitford eccentricity. I particularly liked her description of her handbag which she described as "septic". I have one the same. I managed to obtain a signed copy from Chatsworth House - she is a lovely person, taking time to chat to bookbuyers and asking what they would like her to write. I would highly recommend her other books, The Garden at Chatsworth and The House at Chatsworth.

laugh out loud read
The Duchess has that touch of Mitford wit that can also be seen in Nancy & Jessica's writings. Filled with pithy observations about aspects of life in Britain and history, I was laughing out loud at her recountments of ancestral adventures (brothers sharing one hotel room with a dead body, everyone crying at the birth of another girl) and encounters with the general public ("Saw the duchess in the garden, she looked quite normal."; "That's the Dowager Duchess. It was taken the year she died."). A gem of a book!

A gem!
I picked this book up on a whim and couldn't put it down! It had me laughing out loud at times. It's worth the price of the book just for her two lines about her new T.V.
The authoress is witty, charming, opinionated (and I certainly don't agree with all of her views (for example I love sparrowhawks and hate the cult around Elvis)) but above all I found her adorable.
A lovely gem of a book.