“Decca, a collection of [Jessica Mitford’s] letters that spans sixty years, is not only a portrait of an intrepid, humorous and affectionate woman, but a look at class and politics through the eyes of someone to whom good writing mattered and intimacy mattered even more . . . . [It] is impossible not to reach the end [of this collection of letters] without great admiration–for a life so generously and humorously led, in which injustices and causes really mattered, and in which happiness, love and friendship played such an enormous part.”–Caroline Moorehead, Times Literary Supplement (UK)

“These letters are rarely less than amusing, colored by salubrious scorn for the pieties and deceit of the status quo and marked by Decca’s gimlet eye for the maliciously telling detail . . . [It’s] impossible not to be drawn in by Decca’s spiky charm and disarming curiosity, which remained with her to the end . . .”–Daphne Merkin, Slate magazine

“Decca is a wonderfully rich and varied collection [of letters]. Far better than [Jessica Mitford’s autobiography], Hons and Rebels, it brings together the extremes of her two worlds: the English aristocracy of her birth and postwar American radical politics. Conflict and displacement, strong family affections and an even stronger urge to rebel against her class and upbringing are recurring themes . . . The mixture of the personal and political enlivens the Mitford letters, especially those between the sisters . . . [On] the whole, the comic spirit prevails in this large, well-edited and generous volume of her letters.”–Brenda Niall, The Age