My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A well-written, purposeful biography of a century at British Vogue (or “Brogue” as one character refers to it), this is a real pleasure to read. We trace the beginnings of the magazine at the turn of the century, throughout the wild-horrors of two world wars, and then into the tempestuous rises and falls of more recent decades, and throughout all of this Summers maintains a firm respect for her subject and what it does. I welcomed this a lot; the book does not minimise the achievements of a popular magazine and its relevance towards its readership – each copy often being read by dozens, if not more, of people – and how it sought to speak both for and to the women of Britain.
There’s a noticeable strength here when Summers writes about the war years and in particular, the editorship of Audrey Withers. I was not surprised to see that she has written a book about Withers (Dressed For War: The Story of Audrey Withers, Vogue editor extraordinaire from the Blitz to the Swinging Sixties) and have added that to my list of things to read. I was also rather delighted by her work around iconic figures such as Cecil Beaton and Lee Miller and their remarkable work for the magazine.
What Summers does well is recognise that little frisson of excitement that comes with archival material; that when you are looking through something and forming connections with it in order to create a story, a narrative. It’s exciting because you start to trace the bigger pictures, the ones which move across years and you start to find patterns and echoes. I was particularly interested in the treatment of royalty; from the accidental scoop of Princess Diana’s engagement through to the Duchess of Wales’ editorship and cover photo, the purple covers on mourning and the genuinely joyful coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.
It’s a thoughtful, comprehensive and well-made thing this. Summers manages to delicately point out some of the problematic aspects of the magazine and although I’d have welcomed some more of this (and in fact, I’ve heard the author speak thoughtfully about some of these issues in an event), I think it does what it can considering its context. For me, the greater strengths of the book come in those early years because we have that distance between author and subject and so some of the digging can happen a little clearer, a little cleaner.
I liked this a lot, I really did. There’s something so delicious about it. And that cover!
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Daisy May Johnson 