Finding Iris Chang by Paula Kamen

Iris Chang was the author of The Rape of Nanking, a book that caused a huge stir when it came out back in the late 1990's. The Rape of Nanking detailed the atrocities committed by the Japanese during their occupation of the Chinese city of Nanking during the early part of World War II. The incidents at Nanking are partly the cause of the continuing tension between Japan and China. Chang was a dedicated journalist who spent years researching the gruesome events and advocating for the Chinese survivors of Nanking. I considered reading The Rape of Nanking when it came out, but to be honest I was a little fearful that it might be more history than I could stomach.

I did follow Iris Chang's career, though. She continued to write about Asia and about Asians in the U.S. and was greatly respected in journalistic circles and among readers of nonfiction. I was shocked by her death a few years ago, which turned out to be a suicide. Now Paula Kamen, Chang's friend from college, has written a biography of Chang that presents a balanced portrait of Iris's complex personality and relationships, and reveals the mental illness that preceded her suicide.

Here is an excellent post about this book on the blog Each Little World.

(Book 15, 2010)

Marie-Therese, Child of Terror by Susan Nagel

I was always a fan of the English kings and queens. Like a lot of American girls in the 1970’s I read all those books by Jean Plaidy and I know people still read the ones by Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir. I always wondered why the French monarchy never received as much attention as the British (at least in the realm of light history and historical fiction written in English). Is it because it all ended so badly for them?

It seems like this has been changing recently, as far as one queen goes. I first noticed it a few years back with the release of Marie Antoinette: The Journey, by Antonia Fraser, a book I gave as a gift to my mother-in-law, but which I never got around to reading myself. A quick check of Amazon reveals several new books as well: The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette: A Novel, by Carolly Erickson; Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution, by Caroline Weber; and The Private Realm of Marie Antoinette, by Marie-France Boyer and Francois Halard. All of these have been released since 2006. And of course I did see the delightful movie Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola.

Now we have Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie-Antoinette’s Daughter by Susan Nagel. I think this must be more scholarly than some of the titles I list above, more in the vein of the Fraser book. It’s certainly not a secret diary or a fashion study. I enjoyed it a lot, though it went kind of slowly. It’s dense with history, but not so dense as to overwhelm. It would be a good entry to the period for someone who didn’t know much about the French Revolution and wasn’t sure which book to start with.

Marie-Therese endured violence, imprisonment, the murder of her parents and brother, and was for many years a refugee with no secure home. Yet she maintained her grace and intelligence throughout her life. She is an inspiring figure, and this book does her justice.

(Book 21, 2008)

Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler's Angel by Anne de Courcy

I always intend to read more biographies, but sometimes a whole book's worth of information about one person is just too much for me. (Does this mean I am frivolous and superficial? Maybe.) Unlike some, though, this book was just the right amount of personal, political, and historical detail to hold my interest but not overwhelm me. It helps that the subject, Diana Mosley, lived such a shocking life. I knew some little bits about the English aristocratic Mitford family, of whom Diana was the third sister. Long ago I read Nancy Mitford's novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate and knew they were semi-autobiographical. Beyond that, I was in the dark. This book clears it all up. What a bizarre family! Here are some things that really happened to Diana Mosley and her siblings:

· Diana abandoned her first husband (the wealthy heir to the Guinness brewery fortune) and their two children to take up with Oswald Mosley, founder and leader of the British Union of Fascists. At the time, Mosley was married, and was also having several affairs with other women.

· Through one of her sisters, Unity, Diana was introduced to Adolf Hitler and became his confidante. Her lifelong adulation of Hitler never abated; she defended him until her death in 2003, denying the extent of the Holocaust with bland statements about the horrors of war. Unity botched a suicide attempt at the outbreak of war and spent the rest of her life as a brain-damaged invalid with a bullet lodged in her head.

· After the death of Mosley's wife, Diana continued her affair with him. He began a simultaneous affair with his dead wife's sister. The two women (Diana and the sister-in-law) would take turns spending time with Mosley and his children at their vacation home on the Mediterranean. Eventually, Mosley broke off the affair with his sister-in-law, and he and Diana were married in Joseph Goebbels’ living room. Hitler and his entourage attended.

· Diana and Mosley were imprisoned for more than 3 years during WWII for their fascist sympathies. The people responsible for turning Diana in to the British authorities? Her sister Nancy, and her former father-in-law. Her sister Jessica, a lifelong communist, refused to speak to her for more than 30 years, but Diana and Nancy eventually reconciled and Diana nursed Nancy through a painful death from cancer.

· After her release from prison, she was universally hated in Britain (surprise surprise) and spent the rest of her life living in France.

Never a dull moment in this book! The arrogance and self-absorption of Diana and her siblings was truly astounding. It was as if they believed that regular rules of society didn't apply to them. I kept thinking that if this were a novel, no one would believe a character or events like this. The author, Anne de Courcy is no apologist for Diana and yet manages to make her interesting enough that it's not a hardship to read about her. It was a good foray into non-fiction for me.

(Book 7, 2007)
Here's a link to an interview with Anne de Courcy by NPR's Scott Simon.