The Horror of Love : Nancy Mitford and Gaston Palewski in Paris and London

'I've given up everything - my friends, my family, my country, & he simply roared with laughter, and then of course so did I' - Nancy Mitford THE HORROR OF LOVE is a story about two people - Nancy Mitford and the Free French commander Gaston Palewski - who conducted a less than ideal love affair in post-war France. She was one of the twentieth century's most glamorous and popular authors, he was one of the most significant European politicians of the period. He inspired and encouraged her to write one of the funniest, most painfully poignant and best-loved novels of its time, The Pursuit of Love, and she supported him through a tumultuous political career. Their mutual life was spent amongst some of the most exciting, powerful and controversial figures of their times in the reawakening centre of European civilisation. By modern standards, their relationship was sometimes a disaster - "Oh, the horror of love!" once exclaimed Nancy to her sister, Diana Mosley. But the result is Lisa Hilton's provocative, emotionally challenging book about a very different way of conducting an affair of the heart. With discipline, gentleness and a great deal of elegance, Nancy Mitford and Gaston Palewski achieved a very adult ideal, whose story will test the reader as much as it charms. A feast for Mitford fans, THE HORROR OF LOVE will generate a fascinating debate about how far we all might go in pursuit of love.

Lisa Hilton is the critically acclaimed author of ATHENAIS: THE REAL QUEEN OF FRANCE, MISTRESS PEACHUM'S PEASURE, THE HOUSE WITH THE BLUE SHUTTERS and QUEENS CONSORT. She lives in London.