Edwina Mountbatten: A Life of Her Own

Just say NO to this boring book ! I have never read of a woman more self involved that Edwina Mountbatten! She professes to love the Uncle of Prince Philip yet cheats on his constantly and with multiple men (younger than herself) at the same time, making sure Lord Louise knows all about her affairs because SHE informs him! Mountbatten pines for this ugly natured creature but does have a few sexual affairs of his own because after giving birth to two daughters Edwina is apparently not interested in having sex with her husband! Neither is she interested in being any kind of a mother to the girls! Lord Louise meanwhile notes on them! Edwina is mostly traveling the world to sleep her way around Europe! She confesses to her husband the love of her life is Ghandi. He offers a divorce so that she may marry the man. She refuses. Why? Because she loves the perks of being married to the man whom Prince Charles thinks of as a father! Louise is Prince Philips Uncle. He has a kind and loving heart. Edwina lacks this. Its the Edwina show all the way up until her death! Mountbatten continued to be her lap dog when it suited her.

I was particularly interested in this woman who appears to have made a 180 degree directional change as an adult. She lived a glamorous playgirl existence in early adulthood, both prior to and especially after being married to Lord Louis Mountbatten (uncle of Prince Philip). It was tedious reading about that time in her life. I was mainly interested in why she changed from a wealthy, indulged playgirl to a civil servant and devoted helper of the less fortunate all over the world but particularly in South Asia and India. What drives a person to make such a change? Also, I was interested in the relationship with Jawaharlal Nehru, which began when she was Vicereine and continued (apparently just as intensely) right up until her death in 1960. She had two very powerful men continually under her spell up until her death. Like other reviewers, I would have liked the author's personal insights into this complex, intelligent and driven woman. What made her change from playgirl to woman with a purpose?

Edwina was brought up as a very selfish woman, but she did have some redeeming qualities as well. For one, she was very organized, also cared about her history and background, and did an amazing amount of volunteer work and organizing the red cross and St. James Auxillary during and after the war, as well her work in India. But, she was a miserable mother she basically ignored her daughters till they were young ladies, then they were interesting to her. She ignored her husband leaving him to fend for himself and find other woman friends, then get moody with him and rage. The book goes into a lot of minutiae which I skipped through but it is very well written and left me with better impression of Edwina than I had when I started. Oh the rumor about Nehru you will have to find out for yourself.

Interesting, but I prefered Daughter of Empire by Lady Pamela Hicks and Indian Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann which both dealt a lot with Edwina Mountbatten, this got a bit tedious. I would suggest reading the other 2 books instead of this book unless Edwina is major interest of the reader.

Unfortunately, the author comes across as rather misanthropic and injects a feminist myopia when offering her opinions as to the motivations behind the actions and behaviors of the subjects treated in this biography. Edwina was a troubled individual. However, this is more due to her innate Temperment, than any other difficulties in life; to miss this can lead author and reader down wrong paths for understanding Edwina. This said, so little easy access biographical material seems to exist on Edwina that this biography is definitely informative and worth the read.

I didn't care for this biography. It's clear the author didn't care for Edwina, and that bias shows. It also jumps around so much without any real detail - she mentions all the parties Edwina attended but doesn't say anything much about them, so that they tend to blur together. She frequently alludes to the enormous press coverage of Edwina, but includes few if any excerpts from them. She rarely mentions the year we're in, so it was hard to keep track. For example, she'll say "That February, Edwina and Dickie...." The reader has to flip back numerous pages to try to figure out which February this is. A final criticism is that the sources are not specifically named. The author apparently had special access to family papers that no one else will ever be able to see, so she didn't bother citing specifics. I hope some future historian does gain access and writes a better bio of Edwina.

Edwina Mountbatten-A LIFE OF HER OWN IS A very interesting book. The Author, Janet Morgan was able to research her book with the blessings of the Mountbatten family. Edwina was a complicated person due to part that her childhood was not as happy as it should have been. Her parents were too interested in their own feelings and lives than to give Edwina and her sister Mary the Love and attention Children required. If it were not for Edwina's grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassel and his sister, Wilhelmina [Minna, or Aunty-Grannie] the girls would have been shut away with just their Nannies and Tudors. The girls' father, Wilfrid Ashley, remarried to a woman that was the true Wicked Step-mother. She did not want the responsibility of raising the girls and got ride of their Tudor and sent them off to boarding school.Lord Louis never stopped loving Edwina and put up a lot with her "I am going to do what I want ways".I would RECOMMEND Ms. Morgan's Book because of her research and background information. Ms. Morgan's book and Richard Hough's Book EDWINA COUNTESS MOUNTAIN OF BURMA GIVE AN INSIDE PICTURE OF THE LIVES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS FROM 1900 TO 1979.

Edwina Mountbatten is not only a story about a unique woman but packed with an overview of the post industrial revolution British elite society.

"In many respects Edwina was indeed better informed than Secretaries of State for Foreign affairs, the Colonies, Commonwealth Relations, men who were generally either new to the job or the prisoners of their own and their officials' prejudices. Edwina had formed her own views over many years. She compared notes with Dickie and she was also influenced by Nerhu, wose letters offered a steady supply of information and opinion. (He was not infallible. Ho Chi Minh, the Communist President of North Vietnam, struck him as 'one of the most likeable men I have come across. He gives one the impression of integrity, goodwill and peace.') Discussions with Nerhu, Dickie, their colleagues and the Mountbattens' friends, together with her own experience - all this gave Edwina an unparalleled vantage point. She was considered left-wing; in fact she was a peace loving, romantic democrat. Her myopia was more pronounced when she looked east towards the Urals; westward, her eyes were sharp. Edwina was constantly irritated by what she considered the rabid anti-communism of the Americans. When she mentioned in her diary, in April 1949, that she had spent an evening seeing 'lenghtly and questionable films' with Dickie's shipmates, she was referring not to anything sexually suggestive but to "The Iron Curtain", an American film about a Soviet Spy ring. The Sunday service on an American destroyer was full of reference to the hydrogen bomb, Edwina told Nerhu in May 1957; 'Poor old God gets brought into everything nowadays.'"

Heard lots about Edwina from my grandparents and found much of what they said about her to be untrue.Well written and very interesting.

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Interesting biography of a bizarre life.

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