Nancy Mitford a satire on Mosley's fascist "Blackshirt" movement. Mitford herself had briefly flirted with this cause, although her enthusiasm was short-lived and she soon became a vociferous opponent of fascism. When the novel was published in 1935 it made little critical impact, while seriously offending members of her own family, particularly her sisters Diana and Unity, both of whom were supporters of Mosley's movement and devotees of the German dictator Adolf Hitler. Diana eventually forgave her, but the rift with Unity, who was outraged by her depiction in the book as the ridiculous "Eugenia Malmains", was never fully healed. By 1936
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters scalding wit and best selling novelist; Pamela, who craved a quiet country life; Diana, the fascist jailed during the Second World War; Unity, whose obsession with Hitler led to her demise, Jessica, the runaway communist; and Deborah, the socialite who became Duchess of Devonshire. The book was well received both critically and commercially. In particular previously held perceptions were challenged. India Knight wrote in the "Sunday Times"; "we didn’t really know them especially well, it turns out. Jessica was not that good; Diana briefly sinister but also clever, kind, fatally loyal to her Blackshirt husband, Oswald Mosley, and so on."