Do Admit
The Mitford Sisters and Me
by Mimi Pond
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Sep 16 2025 | Archive Date Nov 15 2025
Drawn & Quarterly | Drawn and Quarterly
Description
Mimi Pond crafts a gorgeous, dazzling biography of the Mitford Sisters
Born with pedigrees but without the pocketbooks to match, The Mitfords were certainly no strangers to lies, intrigue, or scandal. Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. All six sisters were weaned on their family’s well-documented upper class eccentricities: a ne’er do well would-be entrepreneur father; a stern, stiff-upper-lipped mother; a revolving door of governesses of varying propriety, all against the backdrop of a crumbling estate falling into disrepair.
The sisters grew from cloistered turn-of-the-century country girls into debutantes who would marry into political influence—for better or worse. Is it any wonder that a young, working class Mimi in Southern California becomes enamored with The Mitfords’ downright fanciful rich-and-famous lifestyle? This charming, inventively cartooned, and lovingly researched biography captures the dramatic, over-the-top antics of high society’s strongest personalities as they rubbed elbows with some of history’s most infamous fascists and communists.
Pond’s genius for classic cartooning in the vein of the Vanity Fair caricature and the satirical illustrations of Charles Addams brings the aesthetic decadence of the 1920s and ‘30s to life with effortless aplomb, warts and all.
Advance Praise
"A spectacular, dizzying romp through the tumult of the twentieth century. Her kinetic drawings and boisterous, endlessly inventive layouts somehow bring coherence to the sprawling, branching plots of her subjects’ lives. The visual world Pond creates is phantasmagoric, drawing on deep veins of vintage graphic design. And her grip on the words is equally deft. She’s clearly spent so much time steeping in the rich textual legacy that this family has left the world—their books, letters and secret family lingo—that she begins to sound suspiciously like a seventh member of this sophisticated and scandalous sorority. Brava." –Alison Bechdel, Cartoonist of Fun Home
“Whether you know nothing (or everything) about the infamous Mitfords you will be wildly entertained by this exhaustive tome about them. A massive work almost big enough to encompass the enormous egos and lives of these fascinating (and sometimes frightening) woman. Told with wry charm and wit (the kind the Mitfords themselves might have appreciated) and endlessly visually-inventive. It is the sort of historical biography that will remind you that, yes, truth is always stranger than fiction.”–Seth, Cartoonist of Clyde Fans
“Mimi Pond’s Do Admit is a dazzling, acrobatic swirl of graphic invention. It mingles the fascinating story of the famous, fabulous sisters with scenes from the author’s glamourstarved childhood in 1950s San Diego. Pond’s dry humour fits seamlessly with that of her eccentric British characters, but she is at her empathetic best portraying the heartbreaking losses and turns of fortune they endure. Her love for them shines forth from every page.”– Maurice Vellekoop, Cartoonist of I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781770468047 |
PRICE | $29.95 (USD) |
PAGES | 444 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

We will be purchasing this one at our library. This is the kind of subject and format that has always been a hit with our student patrons.

A Dazzling Graphic Biography That Captures the Glamour and Complexity of the Mitford Sisters
Mimi Pond's Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me is a masterful blend of personal memoir and historical biography, brought to life through her signature wit and expressive illustrations. This 444-page graphic novel delves into the lives of the six Mitford sisters—Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah—whose aristocratic upbringing and divergent political affiliations made them both celebrated and controversial figures in 20th-century Britain.
Pond intertwines her own 1950s Southern California childhood with the Mitfords' stories, offering a unique perspective that highlights the sisters' influence on her imagination and artistic sensibilities. Her dry humor and empathetic storytelling provide depth to each sister's narrative, capturing their individual complexities and the broader societal shifts they navigated.
The artwork is a visual delight, reminiscent of classic Vanity Fair caricatures and the satirical illustrations of Charles Addams. Pond's illustrations vividly depict the opulence and decay of the Mitfords' world, enhancing the narrative's emotional resonance.
Critics have lauded Do Admit for its inventive storytelling and rich visual style. Alison Bechdel praised it as "a spectacular, dizzying romp through the tumult of the twentieth century," noting Pond's ability to bring coherence to the sprawling narratives of the sisters' lives. Seth described it as "a massive work almost big enough to encompass the enormous egos and lives of these fascinating (and sometimes frightening) women," emphasizing its entertaining and visually inventive approach.
Whether you're well-versed in the Mitford legacy or new to their story, Do Admit offers an engaging and insightful exploration of their lives. Pond's fusion of personal reflection and historical biography results in a work that is both informative and deeply personal.

I recently finished "Do Admit" by Mimi Pond, and I have to say it left a lasting impression on me. Pond's writing is both poignant and humorous, deftly capturing the complexities of memory and the nuances of personal relationships.
The story draws you in with its engaging characters and vivid settings, making it easy to feel connected to the protagonist's journey. I appreciated how Pond explores themes of identity and the passage of time, which resonated deeply with me. The dialogue is sharp and witty, adding a lively rhythm to the narrative that kept me turning the pages.
My only critique would be that at times, the pacing felt a bit uneven, especially in the middle sections. Some parts seemed to meander before picking back up, which made it hard to stay fully invested. However, the emotional payoff in the end was worth it.
Overall, "Do Admit" is a beautifully crafted memoir that combines humor and heart. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a reflective and engaging read. It's earned a solid four stars from me!

Just finished reading this amazing book on the Mitford sisters by the brilliant Mimi Pond out on
@dandq.bsky.social in September. So excellent. So relevant. You’re going to love it.

Do Admit is a very interesting read about the Mitford sisters who I had heard of but didn’t really know much about. The graphic illustrative nature of the book makes it more interesting and I love the monochrome style.

So how much do you know of the Mitford Sisters? Did you know that one was a personal friend of Adolf Hitler while another was a Communist who had traveled to Spain to cover the Civil War? Or that several of the sisters became well-known authors in England and the United States? Mimi Pond invites the reader to come with her on a graphic exploration of these sisters whose lives intersected with so much of 20th Century history.
Mimi Pond sets the stage for the entrance of the sisters with a graphic summarization of each sister in chronological order - Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. She follows this with an interlude of how she became interested in these British ladies while growing up in in 1960-1970s southern California. During the rest of the book Mimi pops herself in briefly. Then it is back to 1920's England for the Mitford Sisters saga. Pond takes the time to highlight each sister and the interactions they had with each other and the larger world as they grew. Nancy became friends with a number of up and coming authors such as Brian Howard and Evelyn Waugh through her brother Tom and started mining her family for her writings. Pamela tended to hang out in the countryside. Diana married to get out of the house but then met up and flung herself upon Oswald Moseley who formed the British Union of Fascists. Unity met and befriended Adolf Hitler while traveling in Germany. She survived shooting herself in the head after Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. Jessica had set up a "running away" fund at a local bank at age 12. She used that fund to travel to Spain with radical journalist Esmond Romilly to cover the Spanish Civil War. The two married and moved to the United States. After Esmond's death as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, she married Bob Treuhaft, a civil right lawyer. She later wrote several muckraking books such as The American Way of Death. Deborah was know for her expressions, but her marriage to Andrew Cavendish paid off when she became the Duchess of Devonshire at the age of 40. The Cavendish's now had 5 country estates to care for and maintain with Chatsworth House being the most famous. All the sisters' tales are followed until they reach their end.
Mimi Pond takes what could be a boring topic but with her drawings, page design, and text keep the reader exploring the lives of these women and learning the impact they had on history that most readers likely did not know. This title provides an interesting picture into a family and a time fading into history that should be remembered!
Thanks Netgalley and Drawn & Quarterly for the chance to read this title!

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.
Wow, Just wow. I don't know how I made it this far in life and not heard of the Mitford sisters. Upper class and wealthy, the six Mitford sisters stretched the boundaries of what upper class woman could do and be. Fascists, communists, divorcees, friends of Hitler, relatives of Churchill, heiresses, duchesses, prisoners, writers, and so much more, every sister's story is nonstop excitement and intrigue. With a TV series recently on BritBox, I'm very grateful to have read this book and I look forward to learning more about this family.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Natalie Babbitt
Children's Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga, Middle Grade
Eugene Yelchin
Biographies & Memoirs, Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga, Teens & YA