Below, British author and civil rights activist Jessica “Decca” Mitford entertains her friends “Barb” and “Eph” with droll descriptions of the bourgeois social environment in Hôtel Paradis. Barbara and Ephraim Kahn were fellow “sparkplugs” in the Civil Rights Congress for which Mitford worked as Secretary. She had just arrived in Bormes-les-Mimosas, France, with her husband Robert Treuhaft and her son Benjamin to find the quiet that would enable her to make the final revisions on her autobiographical novel Hons and Rebels.
Bormes-les-Mimosas, Var
July 3, 1959
Dearest Kahns,
Sorry about this address…In mitigation, Bob claims I chose it because it was the most pollinating-sounding place I could find, and calls it (with his accustomed grouchiness) Hotel Allergie…
Life here is even-keelish to say the least. It’s the sort of hotel where Fr. bourgeois gentility reigns supreme. Dinner, eaten out of doors on the terrace in full view of bougainvillea-shrouded sunset, is a near-silent meal, the only greetings exchanged between one and fellow-guests being a polite, grave bow and “bon soir.” It is served by a sloe-eyed (and fast-footed) young waiter of courteous-verging-on-grim demeanor. The courses are many and absolutely delicious.
The only people we’ve fraternized with during the past week (since arriving here) are a One’s ageish Jewish couple, English, also…
They are fairly nice yet fairly awful, if you know what I mean. On the other hand, they are extremely easy to one-up. They are the sort of Jewish snobs who look down most contemptuously on the “loud, nouveau-riche” (to quote them) Jews. So the other day they were raving about Benj, who they adore, and saying that when “races and cultures are mixed, often a really superior child is produced as a result—providing there is good stock on both sides to begin with.” I inquired about the good stock, turns out that from the Jewish side it means in general a non-garment worker and non-nouveau riche. After leading them on quite a while on this theme, and getting them thoroughly committed, I described Aranka to them (I must admit I laid it on a bit thick), immigrant factory worker at 13 in New York, made her name and pile in the Garment Industry. (I suppose hats are garments, in a way, wouldn’t you say so?)…
Best love to all, Decca
From Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford. Edited by Peter Y. Sussman. New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 2006. pp 221-222.
FURTHER READING
Read an excerpt of Hons and Rebels, accompanied by photos of Jessica Mitford and her family, published in The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Read about Mitford’s son, Benjamin, and his most recent travels.