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Five Sisters: The Langhornes of Virginia
by
James Fox
The beautiful Langhorne sisters lived at the pinnacle of society from the end of the Civil War through the Second World War. Born in Virginia to a family impoverished by the Civil War, Lizzie, Irene, Nancy, Phyllis, and Nora eventually made their way across two continents, leaving rich husbands, fame, adoration, and scandal in their wake. At the center of the story is Nanc...more
Paperback, 496 pages
Published
May 2nd 2001
by Simon & Schuster
(first published December 1st 2000)
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I absolutely love this book. I've read it many, many times, which is something I routinely do when a first reading reveals a book to be a treasure. This is a treasure trove for anyone interested in family dynamics, the political history of Britain, the influx of wealthy American women to the British nobility in the Victorian and Edwardian age, and descriptions of major players on the world scene. The author is a Langhorne; his grandmother was one of the five sisters. He was allowed access to a t...more
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A fascinating book about fascinating women written by a wonderful writer, I love them all! Being a Virginian, I'm sure it is even more interesting to me than it may be to others, but no matter what these were kick-ass women! Nancy Langhorne married Waldorf Astor and became Lady Astor, mistress of Cliveden and a member of British parliament (an American and a woman). Phyllis who married Robert Brand, a leading British economist. Irene who married Dana Gibson and became his model for his first "Gi...more
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book, once I got comfortable with it and the style written. It is not written in story form, but a telling of the lives of these 5 sisters and those close to them. But warning: it is very LONG! I feel like it has taken me forever to get through it, and I wasn't even reading another book along the way. Whenever I sat down to read, this was it! It is long!
The life of these sisters is foreign to me. Completely! But not to the author, and grandson of one of the sisters...more
I really enjoyed this book, once I got comfortable with it and the style written. It is not written in story form, but a telling of the lives of these 5 sisters and those close to them. But warning: it is very LONG! I feel like it has taken me forever to get through it, and I wasn't even reading another book along the way. Whenever I sat down to read, this was it! It is long!
The life of these sisters is foreign to me. Completely! But not to the author, and grandson of one of the sisters...more
The beautiful Langhorne sisters lived at the pinnacle of society from the end of the Civil War through the Second World War. Born in Virginia to a family impoverished by the Civil War, Lizzie, Irene, Nancy, Phyllis, and Nora eventually made their way across two continents, leaving rich husbands, fame, adoration, and scandal in their wake. At the center of the story is Nancy, who married Waldorf Astor, one of the richest men in the world. Heroic, hilarious, magnetically charming, and a bully, Nan...more
History better than fiction. The Gibson Girl, an American who became an Astor and the first female member of parliament, F. Scott Fitzgerald's lover, etc. And it really happened! What could be better?
Meh. This book was sort of a slog to get through. I liked the idea of it - a sort of biography of a big, important family - but I thought it was way, WAY too detailed and confusing. (Even with the family tree to refer to, it didn't help that half of the family was named Nancy and that the English people's names would change halfway through the book when they got titles.)
It also didn't help that I didn't find very many redeeming qualities in any of the five sisters. I kind of thought they were se...more
It also didn't help that I didn't find very many redeeming qualities in any of the five sisters. I kind of thought they were se...more
This is a well-researched, well-written, gossipy look at the five Langhorne sisters--born and raised here in the Commonwealth of Virginia after the Civil War. Nancy is the featured sister since she married Waldorf Astor and ultimately became Great Britain's first female member of Parliament. Irene married Charles Dana Gison and ws the inspiration for the "Gibson Girl" and the author's grandmother, Phyllis, was married to a leading economist. Fox relied on historical research, family stories and...more
This was a fascinating biography of a family of beautiful sisters - the Langhornes - and traced the family history from pre-Civil War through World War II. Nancy became Lady Astor and the first woman to serve in the House of Commons as Conservative MP from Plymouth; Phyllis married the internationally renowned economist Robert Brand; Irene married Charles Dana Gibson and became the model for the "Gibson Girl"; Nora was the mother of the famous English singer/comic/writer Joyce Grenfell. They wer...more
To be fair, the author did disclose that this book is about his ancestors and would focus heavily on his grandmother, Phyllis Langhorne Brand. Because of this, I found it to be much more of a family narrative rather than a work about these women and their times. Any historical work is based on primary sources, but even so, this book gave sisters Nora, Lizzie and (to a degree) Irene short shrift to Nancy and Phyllis. Without social context, it is difficult to see these women in relation to their...more
Oct 12, 2007
Stephanie
added it
Recommends it for:
people with no other recourse
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abandonedship
I hate to stop reading a book, but I honestly couldn't spend any more time or energy on this one. The premise is terrific -- I always love to read about siblings who experience outstanding success (i.e., the Mitford sisters and the Durrell brothers.) However, the actual writing style is what caused me to abandoned ship.
Perhaps it suffered because the author is related to the subjects. Reading this book was akin to watching an acquaintance's vacation slideshow. Unless you're able to bring the sub...more
Perhaps it suffered because the author is related to the subjects. Reading this book was akin to watching an acquaintance's vacation slideshow. Unless you're able to bring the sub...more
I think my problems with this book came from the NYT review on the cover, "Reads like Pride and Prejudice recast by Margaret Mitchell."
But there are several aspects of this book that disappoint this idea. It's written as a history book, not a story. Although the sisters are from Virginia, most of the book actually takes place in England. The sisters don't have mad love stories, which is understandable given that they are all neurotic and even the reader doesn't fall in love with them. And it is...more
But there are several aspects of this book that disappoint this idea. It's written as a history book, not a story. Although the sisters are from Virginia, most of the book actually takes place in England. The sisters don't have mad love stories, which is understandable given that they are all neurotic and even the reader doesn't fall in love with them. And it is...more
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i read this book partially because of the blurb on the cover which says "if pride and prejudice was written by margaret mitchell" after reading the book i doubt this reviewer has read pride and prejudice nor gone with the wind and possibly not even this book. life is too short to read 470 page books that are just "ok".
Not as great as my favorite book about sisters---The Soong Dynasty--but still an engaging read that is very interesting due to the time in which they lived and what became of them. One became Lady Astor another was the model that the Gibson Girl was based on, etc. we're also very good riders.
This biography of one famous family spans generations and offers a glimpse into the lives of the aristocracy, both in the United States and in Great Britain. The subject, along with the fast pace and fascinating characters, may make this an appealing choice.
This was billed as Pride & Prejudice if it were written by Margaret Mitchell. Not so much. It's disjointed and confusing and rather poorly written. I'm more than a little annoyed that I wasted $12 of a gift card on this book.
A sometimes fascinating look at five Virginia-born sisters, a couple of whom made their mark on British society (Nancy Astor and Phyllis Brand). It offers an insider's (one of the sister's grandsons wrote the book) look at the family dynamics and well-researched history of tumultuous times in Europe. I found the history and politics a bit much in the last 50 pages or so. (I was familiar enough with the Astors' views by then.) Nancy Astor is the standout character in the bunch, but not necessaril...more
I didn't know what to expect, and I found myself wishing that instead of a first person account of a family's existence and relationships, that the book was more historical fictional, the type where people are a live in the pages more so than just an account that tells you who this person was, what they did, who they married, why they divorced, etc. Even at the risk of telling something factually inaccurate or impossible, to have the people fictionally tell their own stories; a story which then...more
I love the fact that it didn't focus totally on the sister Nancy Langhorne (Astor). While Nancy was a great historical individual each sister had their own unique situation and history as well.
There are many historic figures that I wish I could meet. The Langhorne sisters are not on that list. Although the author, their grandson and grandnephew, writes generously of them, repeatedly insisting that they were charming in person in spite of their flaws, I find them repellant, each in her own way.
This book is definitely "off the shelf" for good.
This book is definitely "off the shelf" for good.
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Fun fact: The first woman elected to British parliament was, in fact, an American woman. What this book lacks in literary merit, it makes up for in historical information.
wow interesting read...I was surprised about the personalities of some of the sisters...and the tragedy they caused in others lives..
As a Virginian, I really liked this book. As someone who enjoys biographies, this is an all-time favorite!
A fun read, but I don't think I have ever read a biography where I have disliked the subjects so much.
Very interesting account of the times. These sisters were very human and often times horrible parents. I think the author was able to get a lot of private info because he is the grandson of one of the sisters and in touch with many of his cousins.
it wasn't a story but a recounting of their lives, not that great
I enjoyed reading this book with my good friend, Kitty Ensley.
very good - fascinating family, particularly Lady Astor - but this book also brings the lives of her 4 sisters into focus
And I thought my family was nuts!
I picked this book up at the swap shop because I had never heard of the Langhornes, but had heard about "The Gibson Girl" and the Astors. The book started off with a bang but as more characters were introduced, it became very confusing. The author seemed to have a poor grasp of how to appropriately use pronouns! The sisters led interesting lives, but the book was too long and quite frankly got boring. Read about the Langhornes on Wikipedia and save yourself some time.
Long...but very enlightening. Nanacy Astor reminded me of an early Sarah Palin...
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James Fox was a journalist for the Sunday Times in the early 1970s.
He lives in London with his wife and sons.
More about James Fox...
He lives in London with his wife and sons.
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