Five Sisters: The Langhornes of Virginia

I can't agree enough with the articulate, erudite reviewers who rated this book highly. I came to read it simply because - as a interior-decoration fiend - I wanted the Nancy Lancaster angle. I never liked her Aunt Nancy, had never been impressed with Phyllis Brand or Irene Gibson, thought Lizzie was kinda pitiful, and knew little about Nora. But this book! OMG! The story of these women's lives is the whole 20th century in the flesh. I don't mind admitting that I teared up big-time at certain points of the story (the snowdrops!) and that I thought the end...Bobbie Shaw headed for Fort Augustus...was one of the most masterful, powerful, beautifully-written denouments I have ever experienced! I cannot rate this book highly enough!

Throughout Five Sisters, I couldn't quite forget that the author is the grandson of one of the Langhorne women. Of course, if he hadn't been, he never would have had access to the letters he uses throughout the book - an absolutely priceless insight into what the sisters were actually thinking and saying to each other. But I kept my eye out for the 'bias' I was sure I would find yet that I never quite encountered.While these letters form the basis of the book, it has obviously been meticulously researched and even includes the author's own memories of his family. The focus is mainly on two sisters with less attention paid to the others, and often only as they interact with Nancy and Phyllis. But Fox does a great job depicting the complexities of the women, especially Nancy, whose Christian Science religion, stubborness and type of humor make her a particularly difficult person to define.This book is as much about the history of the time as the Langhorne sisters themselves. By marrying into various families - and with Nancy Langhorne, later Lady Astor as a member of Parliament - the sisters lives intersected with the most significant moments in the history of the time, whether the Treaty of Versaille or the negotiations leading up to Hitler's rise in power. For those expecting a traditional biography, this aspect might be offputting, but I think in order to understand the sisters one must get a sense of the time they lived in and the history in which they were intimately involved.There's so much covered in this book that it isn't surprising that there does seem to be bits missing here and there. But the scope of what is there is very satisfying, very well written and really provided a sense of this amazing family and their lives. Those not interested in history beware, but for anyone else, I recommend Five Sisters highly.

This is a superb biography: well-written, intelligent, sympathetic without being indulgent or polemical, it illuminates a world of money, politics, culture and influence in America and England from the turn of the century through the second world war that few could have experienced first hand, but which nonetheless affected everyone. Particularly intriguing are the discussions -- includng, through correspondence, by the participants -- of the negotiations leading up the the Treaty of Versaille and the events surrounding the rise of Fascism and the beginning of the second World War. And of course, in the middle of all this, are the Langhorne sisters. Perhaps Fox's greatest achievement is depicting Nancy Astor -- his great aunt -- at both her best and worst, both thoroughly offensive and, yet, strangely likeable. The tragedy of her unbending personality forms the center of Fox's story, and his account of Christian Science and its influence, told through the experience of Langhorne-Astor, is both horrifying and fascinating. I didn't want this book to end and have given it to friends to read.

I have long held an interest in Nancy Astor and her somewhat less famous sisters, and here they all are in one book. I tried so hard to make this book last but I couldn't stop plowing right through. The Langhorne sisters lived a rarefied life, every one of them, to what most of us in the year 2000 could imagine. James Fox brought his grandmother, Phyllis Brand, and her sisters to life through their voluminous correspondence, saved by her husband. For all their wealth and privilege, they suffered some terrible tragedies and for the most part continued on. This book seems to be a true labor of love, and I would recommend it to anyone who's interested in a way of life that no longer exists.