Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford
- November 2025
- HarperCollins (US), Hurst (UK)
- 0060882387
- 576 pages
Formats
- Hardcover, Audio, Kindle, Digital
Resources
- Excerpt (Town & Country)
News
- Finalist for the 2026 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award
- Finalist for 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award
- A Boston Globe “Best Books of 2025”
- A New York Times “Books We Love,” Editor’s Choice
- A Town & Country “Best Book” for November
- A Bloomberg “Ten Best” books of November
AVAILABLE NOW
The wild and unlikely story of Jessica Mitford, fifth of the six famous Mitford Girls, a British aristocrat-turned-American Communist.
Troublemaker tells the wild and unlikely story of Jessica Mitford, fifth of the six famous Mitford Girls, a British aristocrat-turned-American Communist, famous for exposés like The American Way of Death; this biography brings her astonishing self-transformation to life with a riveting, often hilarious account of trading wealth and status for a life of radical activism.
Who could predict that a British aristocrat would so energize American antifascist and civil rights struggles that Time magazine would crown her “Queen of the Muckrakers”? Jessica Mitford, always known as Decca, was brought up by an eccentric English family to marry well and reproduce her wealth and privilege, not to advocate for the rights of others. Her beautiful sisters have been subjects of books and movies dedicated to their naughty, glamorous lives. Decca ran away to America to forge a rebel’s life.
As this richly researched book details, Decca broke the Mitford mold. Instead of settling for life as a professional Beauty, she fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War, became an American Communist and pioneered witty, hugely popular journalism, including her 1963 blockbuster The American Way of Death.
Decca dedicated her life to social justice and proved herself an immensely effective ally, but she also injected laughter into all her political work, annoying some activists with her relentless antics but encouraging many others to find joy in the struggle. From famed baby doctor Benjamin Spock to best friend Maya Angelou, her anti-authoritarian irreverence had a profound impact on American culture.
Mining extensive, untapped sources, and with nearly fifty new interviews, Kaplan’s passionate biography beautifully illuminates how Decca’s hard-won and self-taught social empathy offers a powerful example of female freedom, the dramatic, novelistic story of an extraordinary woman of her time who is remarkably relevant and resonant today.
Audiobook sample
As narrated by Christina Delaine.
Interview with the author
Slideshow
A selection from the many photographs included in Troublemaker, highlighting Decca’s life and career.
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Decca at age 5, circa 1922. (Unknown photographer, courtesy Constancia Romilly, Benjamin Treuhaft, and Ben Weber.) -
The Mitford family, circa 1920s, with Decca in the middle holding a cat. (Unknown photographer, courtesy Constancia Romilly, Benjamin Treuhaft, and Ben Weber.) -
Decca as debutante, 1935. (Yevonde Portrait Studio, courtesy Mary Evans Picture Library.) -
Jessica Mitford and Esmond Romilly, Greenwich Village, 1939. (Photo by David E. Scherman, later a good friend of Decca’s, for Life.) -
Jessica Mitford with her daughter Constancia (“Dinky”) and her second husband, Robert Treuhaft, in 1944. (Unknown photographer, courtesy Constancia Romilly, Benjamin Treuhaft, and Ben Weber.) -
Jessica Mitford beside a poster of Willie McGee, designed by Pele de Lappe, circa 1950s. (Unknown photographer, courtesy Constancia Romilly, Benjamin Treuhaft, Ben Weber, and Ohio State University.) -
The original cover of The American Way of Death, designed by Janet Halverson. (Photo courtesy of Harry Ransom Research Center, University of Texas, Austin.) -
Original cover for A Fine Old Conflict, painting by Edward Sorel, 1977. (Photo courtesy of Harry Ransom Research Center, University of Texas, Austin.) -
Jessica Mitford in a prison mugshot, early 1970s, possibly taken during a workshop on incarceration. (Unknown photographer, courtesy Constancia Romilly, Benjamin Treuhaft, and Ben Weber.) -
Jessica at a microphone, one of her favorite places, circa 1970s. (Unknown photographer. Photo courtesy Mary Evans Picture Library.) -
Maya Angelou and Jessica Mitford, North Carolina, 1986. (Photo by Mary Ellen Mark.) -
Jessica Mitford wearing a feather mask and fancy glasses. (Photo by Janet Fries/Getty Images.) -
Jessica with a muckrake. (Photo by Jock McDonald.)
Praise for Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford
“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
“[D]oggedly researched and resolutely modern…. [A] template for would-be allies in social justice movements that have intensified since… Troublemaker is a repository of astounding resourcefulness; a detailed curriculum vitae; a crack against the soft rump of the modern screen-addled slacker.” The New York Times
“Kaplan has written the most well-researched biography of Jessica Mitford to date. She is also, refreshingly, less interested in her as one of the infamous Mitford girls than as a pioneering advocate for what we now call “social justice.” The result is a book that … pays Decca the real compliment of treating her as a public intellectual.” The Times of London
“The most significant contribution [to recent Mitford projects] is ‘Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford’… Kaplan is devoted to Decca alone, and to separating her crusading accomplishments from the sins of the flock… It is, as Kaplan notes, an apt time for such a book to emerge.” The New Yorker
“Gripping.” Los Angeles Times
“Kaplan captures the subversiveness and strength of the woman who rejected fascism and overcame personal tragedy… [a] well-researched and unashamedly partisan account.” Financial Times
“As Kaplan shows, Decca found her legacy in the light: in her ebullient personality, her fight for social justice, the delight she took in her triumphs, and her deep connection with other people.” Air Mail
“Can there really be any point in yet another fat book about one of the Mitford sisters? …. Carla Kaplan’s exhaustively researched and thorough account of Jessica…comes as a welcome relief…. To the end of her life, Decca had the daunting blue gaze, pure upper-class accent and ruthless, exploitative charm of a true Mitford. Kaplan’s account is solid, even-handed and, in the end, impressive. It confirms the fact that Decca was surely the only one of all the Mitfords worth taking seriously.” Anne Chisholm in The Spectator
“Beautifully written, utterly transporting, and [made] 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.” Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-8), author of the New York Times #1 bestseller 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 ‘Decca’ Mitford. An inspiring biography by a master biographer.” Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography in New York City
“Of the legendary Mitford sisters, novelist Nancy got the coverage, Duchess Debo got the glamour, fascist Diana and Hitler-loving Unity got the notoriety, but it was Decca who really made a difference in the world. Always on the front lines of history—fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War, dodging subpoenas from HUAC, writing lacerating investigative journalism—Decca was a warrior for justice who never forgot to laugh at herself. And Carla Kaplan’s compassionate, enthralling, and aptly titled Troublemaker is a fitting celebration of this extraordinary woman.” Amanda Vaill, author of Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution
“Carla Kaplan unveils a unique angle of ‘good trouble’ and civil rights allyship, told with the drama and humor of Mitford’s unique personality.” Tamara Payne, Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
“Carla Kaplan writes with the flair of a novelist and backs it up with relentless research and keen insight. As infectious, stylish, and hard-hitting as its subject, Troublemaker is the marriage of a fascinating, timely story and a wonderful storyteller. An absolute treasure.” Jonathan Eig, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for King: A Life
“A remarkable book about a remarkable woman. If you don’t know a lot about Mitford (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 Last Call and The Guarded Gate