Edwina

The Unconventional Life of the Countess Mountbatten

Rachel Trethewey

A remarkable biography of the Countess Mountbatten, an alluring woman whose ambition, self-belief, and compassion shaped a dynamic life full of contradictions.

Edwina Mountbatten believed in her destiny. Like Winston Churchill, she trusted from an early age that fate had marked her out for greatness. Yet although she was sure of her potential, for the first part of her life she was uncertain where it would take her. Unconventional and avant garde, she exuded too much energy to ever be pinned down. Seen by the world as being many things; an ultra-rich heiress, a promiscuous play-girl and a nomadic traveller, these were just early incarnations, the ultimate Edwina was yet to emerge. Finally, through her humanitarian work both in Britain and abroad she became the woman she was always meant to be.

A perfectionist who was competitive to her core, she always wanted to be the best. She had to be the most fashionable flapper, the most intrepid traveler, the hardest working charity worker. The person she was most in competition with was her husband, Lord Louis Mountbatten. His ambition and dedication to his naval career spurred her on to prove she could be just as successful. She was not the only one to recognize she was as talented as Lord Louis; many people believed she was brighter and even more charismatic than her exceptional partner.

Edwina was a complicated woman, riddled with contradictions. A semi-royal who was a republican, a multi-millionairess who was accused of being a communist, a humanitarian who hugged starving children but lacked the maternal instinct with her own daughters, Lady Mountbatten was hard for people to understand. The only thing that could be certain about Edwina was that she was never predictable.

Rachel Trethewey read History at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where she won the Philip Geddes Prize for student journalism. During her journalistic career she wrote features for the Daily Mail and Daily Express, and subsequently reviewed history books for The Independent. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and is the author of The Churchill Sisters, about Winston Churchill's daughters. She lives in Devon.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for Rachel Trethewey’s Muv:

"Her six daughters—Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah—became known in the English press as 'the Mitford girls.' In the 1930s and ’40s, nearly all of them acquired celebrity, and some notoriety, for their writing, politics, love affairs or all three. Sydney herself has not been center stage. The historian Rachel Trethewey corrects that in a lively biography, Muv, which takes its title from the nickname Sydney’s children bestowed on her.” The Wall Street Journal

“Trethewey succeeds in adding illuminating background to the plethora of existing books dedicated to detailing the antics of the controversial, quirky siblings. Trethewey works from a wealth of material [and] is admirably adept at piecing the story together. The author writes sympathetically of Muv’s heartfelt efforts to help her estranged daughters [and] maintains both distance and compassion.” The New York Times Book Review

“Trethewey explores the life of Lady Sydney Redesdale, mother of the infamous Mitford sisters. Trethewey uses letters, memoirs and Nancy Mitford’s semiautobiographical novels as sources and provides context related to the position of the Mitfords within English aristocratic society. An engaging look at the changing English aristocracy before and after WWII.” Booklist

“Trethewey offers a well-researched life of the mother of the six famous Mitford sisters, Sydney Redesdale. Drawing on family papers, biographies, and interviews with some of Sydney’s descendants, she reveals a stubborn woman. A sympathetic biography of a complex woman.” Kirkus Reviews

"In Muv, Trethewey looks with equally clear eyes at the tremendous influence exerted on the celebrated Mitford sisters by their strong-willed and alarmingly fervent mother, Sydney Redesdale. Fascinating stuff from one of our most innovative biographers.” Miranda Seymour, author of I Used to Live Here Once and In Byron’s Wake

“For the first time, the matriarch of the Mitfords emerges as an exciting historical figure in her own right, who was as brilliant and maddening as her six daughters. A treat for Mitford aficionados, this book offers a wealth of new information, re-framing and refreshing the story of the Mitfords as never before. Rachel Trethewey has set a new standard in the Mitford world – a truly dazzling book.” Lyndsy Spence, author of The Mitford Girls’ Guide to Life and Mrs. Guinness

“Rachel Trethewey has done the seemingly impossible in a book about the Mitfords: she has found something original to say, thanks to her excellent scholarship, and has written Muv’s story exceptionally well. Those who think they know all there is to know about the family will find her work a revelation.” Simon Heffer, author of Sing as We Go: Britain Between the Wars