The Greyhound Diary

DAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE WEEK

As featured in The Oldie

'In 1949, aged 26, the bright, well-connected Judy Montagu (first cousin of Mary Churchill and friend of Princess Margaret) criss-crossed the United States on a Greyhound bus. The Greyhound Diary is a vivid and often humorous account of the three months she spent on the road'. The Spectator

Judy Montagu spent her late teenage years and early twenties directing anti-aircraft defences during the Second World War as a Captain in Gunnery for the British Army. Demobilised in 1946, she set out in search of fun and freedom in America and found herself swept into a bright and glamorous social circle. She soon counted Joe Alsop and the Cushing Sisters among her new friends and even began to consider becoming a US citizen.

In 1949, determined to understand America more deeply, Judy embarked on a three-month tour of the country by Greyhound bus. Letters of introduction opened doors to a range of encounters, capturing an extraordinary moment at the height of the Anglo-American alliance. At each stop, Judy met newspaper editors, political leaders, and celebrities. In Texas - where she rode in a rodeo - she was the guest of Jesse H. Jones in Houston and Amon Carter in Fort Worth. In Hollywood, she had tea with Mary Pickford, and by the time she reached Illinois, her final state, she met and fell in love with Adlai Stevenson. As a cousin of Clementine Churchill, Judy's travels attracted regular press attention, adding another dimension to the diary.

The Greyhound Diary, edited by Judy's daughter Anna Mathias, is written in a snappy, well-paced style that reveals Judy Montagu's fascination with people and politics. She is generally generous in her portraits of fellow travellers, while offering a more caustic, often witty, take on her grander hosts.

'This fascinating and original book is a gem for anyone who enjoys diaries, travel writing, and social history.'-Robert Harris

'I absolutely loved it. What a pleasure to be reunited with Judy Montagu!'-Anne Glenconner

'Judy had such charm. More than anything else I wanted her friendship'.-Antonia Fraser

'Her diary is droll as well as observant...Montagu's short life - she died at 49 - was in many ways a sad one, but she was a brave original'. Max Hastings, The Times

'The Greyhound Diary is a real-life time capsule of a forgotten America, high and low, in the years after World War II...'-Cullen Murphy

'...paints not only a picture of a long-gone America but also one of an adventurous young cousin of Clementine Churchill whose travels brought her into the circles of political titans, movie stars, and gossip columnists'.-Town & Country

'Judy's hitherto unpublished diary is not only fun but informative - enhanced by her daughter Anna Mathias's intelligent introduction and footnotes.'-The Catholic Herald

'The Greyhound Diary invites the reader to think about the narrative thrust, the accidents and incidents that accrete and shape life...-The Spectator

'What makes Judy's 1949 travel diary so riveting is its intoxicating mixture of the low life and the high life.'-The Daily Mail

© 2025 Zuleika (Lydbog): 9781916197794
© 2025 Zuleika (E-bog): 9781739821272

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 18. december 2025
E-bog: 23. oktober 2025