Troublemaker

'Jessica Mitford is a sister of mine. If I had to go into a room with a leopard, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for her.'

-- Maya Angelou

'The cult of the Mitfords, which now features a shelf of books and several TV documentaries, threatens in itself to become a bore on an almost Bloomsbury scale. But [their] mad father, when making dispositions of his property, wrote in his will the words "except Jessica." And the bookstore at the Devonshire stately home in Chatsworth displays works by and about every Mitford sister but her. These paltry aristocratic gestures confirm, as do [her] letters, that it was Decca, exiled and intransigent, who was the exceptional one.'

-- Christopher Hitchens

'Too much writing about the Mitfords has been trivia. But Carla Kaplan's impressive study of Jessica Mitford's troublemaking life and political activities on the American left proves once and for all that she was the only Mitford sister worth taking seriously.'

-- Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist

'Jessica Mitford was the best, brightest and most dynamic of the Mitford sisters. Her commitment to social justice and civil rights meant she had more impact than all the rest.'

-- Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC, leading international lawyer

'A perceptive, sympathetic biography of activist, unabashed communist, and muckraker Jessica Mitford [...] Kaplan captures Decca's energy and verve, her complicated relationship with her aristocratic family, and her unwavering devotion to fighting injustice, racism, and inequality. A brisk, engaging biography.'

* Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *

'A long overdue tome dedicated to putting Decca front and centre.'

* Town & Country, 'Must-Read Books of Fall 2025' *

'Brilliantly researched. Every paragraph is a fit to the struggle for civil rights decency. Illuminating. Joyful!'

* Blanche Wiesen Cook, award-winning author of Eleanor Roosevelt (3 vol.) *

'The most well-researched biography of Jessica Mitford to date ... refreshing ... pays Decca the real compliment of treating her as a public intellectual.'

* The Times *

'[A] well-researched and unashamedly partisan account ... This splendidly readable biography does justice to a remarkable woman's humour, political commitment and courage.'

* Financial Times *

'[An] exhaustively researched and thorough account ... solid, even-handed ... impressive.'

* The Spectator *

'Troublemaker refuses to reduce this most beautifully messy and complicated of Mitfords to bon mots ... a repository of astounding resourcefulness.'

* The New York Times *

'Kaplan is devoted to ... separating [Decca's] crusading accomplishments from the sins of the flock.'

* The New Yorker *

'Jessica, Kaplan noted, has drawn comparatively little interest from biographers. . . But she believes that her subject's life trajectory -- which included fighting fascists in Spain and joining the Freedom Riders in Alabama -- might especially resonate today. [As Kaplan says] "A lot of people who have looked at the level of injustice in this country have been asking themselves, 'What can I do?' The way my students put that is, 'How can I be a good ally'?"'

* The Washington Post *

‘Beautifully written, utterly transporting and relentlessly vivid by the recovery of amazing circumstances and astonishing human relationships, Carla Kaplan’s remarkable biography of Jessica Mitford is a journey through the many social and political worlds contained in a single family, from British feudal aristocracy and pro-Hitler fascist enthusiasm to the American Civil Rights Movement and card-carrying American Communism. This captivating story—empathetic and yet clear-eyed—of a fascinating woman, her sisters and their lives in the twentieth century is a breathtaking and singular achievement.’

-- Jamie Raskin, congressman and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy

'Marvelous, enchanting and hilarious. Carla Kaplan has triumphed, bringing to life the delightful odyssey of Jessica Mitford, the mischievous British aristocrat turned American radical and celebrated muckraker. An inspiring biography by a master biographer.'

-- Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer and Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography

'Here's a book as infectious, stylish and hard-hitting as its subject--the glamorous and rebellious Jessica Mitford. Carla Kaplan writes with the flair of a novelist and backs it up with relentless research and keen insight. Troublemaker is one of those rare books produced from the marriage of a fascinating, timely story and a wonderful storyteller. An absolute treasure.'

-- Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life

'Carla Kaplan's deeply researched account chronicles Jessica Mitford's fascinating transformation from a British aristocrat to an American Communist, journalist, writer and educator. She unveils a unique angle of "good trouble" and civil rights allyship, told with the drama and humour of Mitford's unique personality.'

-- Tamara Payne, Pulitzer Prize–winning co-author of The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

'A remarkable book about a remarkable woman. If you don’t know a lot about Decca (and her exceptionally weird family), you’re in for a treat. If you think you already know a lot about her, think again: you’re in for a bracing helping of shock and awe. Because Kaplan’s research is so impressively deep, and her prose so pleasingly fleet, her complicated and compelling subject now has the biography she has long deserved.'

-- Daniel Okrent, author of The Guarded Gate