Unravelled: A Family Lost and Found

Unravelled explores the history of a family which was completely concealed from the author throughout her life, and only began to be revealed after her mother died. A clash of cultures - exceedingly grand aristocrats meet Jewish rabbinical scholars - with consequences that reverberated down the generations. It tells the story of the unravelling of a mystery, and encompasses an extraordinary cast of characters, from the wicked Earl of Erroll, of White Mischief fame, and twenties socialite Mimi Wimborne through to the author, artist, and intellectual John Berger. In the telling of the story, the author explores themes of exile, love and loss and asks why the talented but flawed women of her family were so comprehensively written out of history.

Fanny Mills grew up in Hampstead, a stone’s throw from the Heath, and was educated locally and then at North London Collegiate School, before attending Oxford University in the 1980s. Her first career was at the V&A Museum, where she worked in the Exhibitions Department helping to create, amongst others, Streetstyle, an exhibition of street subcultures from Zoot Suits to Mods and beyond. After moving to Devon with her husband, she raised three children and joined the theatre scene, working with an eminent local director to write, produce and perform in community plays which examine the themes of exclusion, colonisation, and isolation in the rural community