In Tearing Haste ─ Letters Between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor

In the spring of 1956, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, youngest of the six legendary Mitford sisters, invited the writer and war hero Patrick Leigh Fermor to visit Lismore Castle, the Devonshires' house in Ireland. The halcyon visit sparked a deep friendship and a lifelong exchange of highly entertaining correspondence. When something caught their interest and they knew the other would be amused, they sent off a letter---there are glimpses of President Kennedy's inauguration, weekends at Sandringham, filming with Errol Flynn, the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, and, above all, life at Chatsworth, the great house that Debo spent much of her life restoring, and of Paddy in the house that he and his wife designed and built on the southernmost peninsula of Greece.

There rarely have been such contrasting styles: Debo---smart, idiosyncratic, and funny---darts from subject to subject, dashing off letters in her breezy, spontaneous style. Paddy, the polyglot and widely read virtuoso, replies in the fluent polished manner that has earned him recognition as one of the finest writers in the English language.

As editor Charlotte Mosely writes, "Much of the charm of the letters lies in their authors' particular outlook on life. Both are acutely observant and clear-sighted about human failings, but their lack of cynicism and gift for looking on the bright side bear out the maxim that the world tends to treat you as you find it. On the whole, the people they meet are good to them, the places they visit enchant them, and they succeed splendidly in all they set out to do. This lightheartendness---a trait that attracted many, often less sunny, people towards them---gives their letters an irresistible fizz and sparkle."

In 1950 when her husband, Andrew, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, inherited Chatsworth, Deborah Devonshire became chatelaine of one of England's greatest and best-loved house. Over decades, she restored the house and its gardens and, in order to support the historic property, developed retail and catering enterprises, and two nearby hotels. She is the author of many books. Following her husband's death in 2004 the Dowager Duchess moved to a village on the Chatsworth estate where she now lives.
Patrick Leigh Fermor ("the finest English travel-writer of his generation"---The Telegraph) was born in 1915 of English and Irish descent. After his stormy schooldays, he walked across Europe to Constantinople. During the Second World War he served as a guerilla on the German-occupied island of Crete, disguised as a shepherd. There, he famously kidnapped the Nazi commander and spirited him out of the country, an exploit for which he was awarded a DSO. He now divides his time between Greece and England. He was knighted in 2004.
Charlotte Mosley lives in Paris and has worked as a publisher and journalist.