Below Stairs by Margaret Powell
If you like Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs, this is a good book for you! If you're interested in woman's history issues or the history of the beginning of the 20th century in England or the history of class warfare (for lack of a better way of putting it).
This is an autobiography of a kitchen maid's (and then cook's) life, mostly of her time below stairs. It starts out with what her life was like growing up in Hove, England. She was born in 1907. It goes on to talk about her life below stairs, and finally there's a little bit about her life after.
I think Powell was a master at dumping tons of information without seeming to. It was an easy read despite the info dump. I read the first bit just mesmerized with her life and the culture she lived in.
There's lots of how it felt for her to be a servant and what different employers were like. This is a classic. It really shows what it was like to live as a servant in a time of vast change in servant's lives.
This is an autobiography of a kitchen maid's (and then cook's) life, mostly of her time below stairs. It starts out with what her life was like growing up in Hove, England. She was born in 1907. It goes on to talk about her life below stairs, and finally there's a little bit about her life after.
I think Powell was a master at dumping tons of information without seeming to. It was an easy read despite the info dump. I read the first bit just mesmerized with her life and the culture she lived in.
There's lots of how it felt for her to be a servant and what different employers were like. This is a classic. It really shows what it was like to live as a servant in a time of vast change in servant's lives.