The concepts for the American and English editions of Wait for Me! by Deborah, the 11th Duchess of Devonshire are quite different. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux decided the book would be more appealing to the American audience with a vintage glamour shot of the Duchess by fashion photographer Norman Parkinson. The title is abbreviated to simply Wait for Me! Memoirs. Her rank, absent from the English edition, was given prominence, likely on the assumption that her status as a duchess would capture the attention a browser who never heard of her or the Mitford family.
The English audience knew the Duchess as a contemporary public figure, and as such, the English edition featured a recent photograph. In it, the Duchess proudly displays the prize-winning hens that by this point were as much a part of the Mitford legend as tea with Hitler and cozy dinners with John F. Kennedy.
Verdict.
Tie. You cannot go wrong with the Duchess of Devonshire. Youthful glamour or earthy patrician are equally acceptable.
A copy of Wait for Me! Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister signed by the Duchess is available here.
The English audience knew the Duchess as a contemporary public figure, and as such, the English edition featured a recent photograph. In it, the Duchess proudly displays the prize-winning hens that by this point were as much a part of the Mitford legend as tea with Hitler and cozy dinners with John F. Kennedy.
Verdict.
Tie. You cannot go wrong with the Duchess of Devonshire. Youthful glamour or earthy patrician are equally acceptable.
A copy of Wait for Me! Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister signed by the Duchess is available here.
American First Edition | English First Edition |
 Wait for Me!, American Edition, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux |  Wait for Me! The Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister, English Edition, Published by John Murray |
By the time her memoirs were published in 2010, the Duchess was officially a dowager duchess and nonagenarian. Advanced age, however, did not prevent her from traveling across the Atlantic to promote her book. Below is a video of her appearance at the Frick Collection in New York City, "Fizz and Sparkle: The Effervescent Life of Deborah, The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire."
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