A new biography vested largely in Astor’s own voice and the voices of women around her.
Jacqui Turner is in the process of writing a biography vested so far as possible in Nancy Astor’s own voice. Previous biographies have been of mixed quality and have had a mixed reception. They have mostly been a consideration of Astor though the lens of wife and mother, very often painted as a ‘bad mother’, an errant and unreasonable wife and an erratic parliamentarian. This biography presents Nancy Astor through her own lens and as a pioneering woman making her way in inherently male environment predominantly judged against male standards.
Nancy Astor did not write an autobiography, she did not think her reputation would survive! However, she did leave autobiographical notes, many scribbled on Cunard Line headed paper during a transatlantic crossing. Publication of the autobiographical notes had a permanent publication embargo imposed in 1979 when her papers were handed over to University of Reading Special Collections. Dr Lisa Berry Waite wrote a blog ‘ The Unfinished Autobiography of Nancy Astor’ for this site in 2020.
We are also planning a supporting sourcebook, ‘An Unconventional MP’: The Political Life of Nancy Astor in 50 documents, constructing a narrative of Astor’s political career though primary source material, documents from the Nancy Astor Papers:
Some biographical writing on Nancy Astor to date:
Emily Astor (with Jacqui Turner), Nancy Astor: A Life in Photographs (Blackwell, 2019)
Maurice Collis, Nancy Astor: An informal biography (Faber and Faber, 1960)
Adrian Fort, Nancy: The Story of Lady Astor (Johnathon Cape, 2012)
James Fox, The Langhorne Sisters (Granta, 1998)
James Fox, Five Sisters: The Langhornes of Virginia (Simon and Schuster, 2000)
John Grigg, Nancy Astor: Portrait of a Pioneer (Hamlyn and various, 1980)
John Grigg, Nancy Astor: A Lady Unashamed (Hamlyn and various, 1980)
Elizabeth Langhorne, Nancy Astor and her Friends (Arthur Baker Ltd, 1974)
Anthony Masters, Nancy Astor: A Life (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1981)
Christopher Sykes, Nancy: The Life of Lady Astor (Harper Collins, 1979)
Other Astor (and related) biographies and life-writing:
Jeremy Lewis, David Astor (Penguin, 2017)
Richard Cockett, David Astor and the Observer (Andre Deutsch, 1991)
Rosina Harrison, The Lady’s Maid, My Life in Service (Ebury Press, 2011)