Grace Dent nominates Nancy Mitford for her wit, and for the way in which she showed women that it was possible to live your life fully and unconventionally.

Nancy Mitford's greatest success came with the novels The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949).

Matthew Parris asks what else it is about Nancy that so inspires Grace, with the aid of Mitford biographer Lisa Hilton.

Grace Dent is a TV and restaurant critic, newspaper columnist, author, and broadcaster.

Producer Beth O'Dea

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2013.