The Bolter by Frances Osborne
The Scandalous Idina Sackville
When Frances was 13 she read an article about a woman who escaped an unhappy marriage and went to Kenya, wore beautiful designer clothes, and was able to get any man she wanted. The young author wanted to be just like her when she grew up.
She was delighted to find out that this fascinating figure was her great-grandmother, but Frances’s mother wasn’t as pleased. She asked Frances whether she really wanted to be known as ‘the Bolter’s great-granddaughter’. Frances decided to search for the truth about her great-grandmother when she grew older. This biography is the result.
Idina Sacville Created Scandal
Idina created scandal wherever she went. Nancy Mitford’s character, ‘The Bolter’, was allegedly based on her. The heroine of Michael Arlen’s novel, ‘The Green Hat’, was supposed to be Idina.
Idina was the daughter of a left-wing suffragette who had to bring the children up alone and didn’t have much money. Petite, golden-haired and charming, Idina married well. She married the wealthy Scot, Euan Wallace. Unfortunately, Euan came home wanting to have a good time after serving as an officer in World War One. Idina was ill for a long time with respiratory ailments. This got on his nerves and he became a little too friendly with one of her sister’s friends. Idina eventually became unfaithful as well. When they divorced he married Barbie, the sister’s friend, and got custody of their two boys.
Idina remarried and began to establish a farm in Kenya. She didn’t see the boys again for fifteen years.
Happy Valley, Kenya
The ‘Happy Valley’ crowd which Idina eventually joined became scandalous for their decadence and hedonism. Idina married five times and had lovers in-between, although she still loved Euan, according to the author. She wore a beautiful ring that he gave her until she died.
Idina's Ex-Husband Murdered In 'White Mischief' Scandal
The ‘White Mischief’ scandal put an end to the ‘goings-on’ of Happy Valley. This involved one of Idina’s former husbands, Count Erroll, who was murdered. Lord Broughton was put on trial for the murder because Erroll was having an affair with Broughton’s much younger wife. He was acquitted. Many of Idina’s friends in Happy Valley became addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Idina had a lot of energy. She oversaw the building and design of the farm and its house, Clouds. The travel-writer, Rosita Forbes, called this ‘low grey house on rising ground about the tawny plain’, ‘entrancing’.
This is a fascinating and very well-written biography. Osborne writes sympathetically about her elusive great-grandmother and describes Edwardian England and the beauty of Kenya vividly. She also tells anecdotes about her family and writing the biography which add to the enjoyment of reading the book.
Frances Osborne, The Bolter, Virago, London, 2008
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