Below Stairs by Margaret Powell
Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants portrayed in Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, Margaret Powell's classic memoir of her time in service, Below Stairs, is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.
Powell first arrived at the servants' entrance of one of those great houses in the 1920s. As a kitchen maid - the lowest of the low - she entered an entirely new world; one of stoves to be blacked, vegetables to be scrubbed, mistresses to be appeased, and bootlaces to be ironed. Work started at 5:30am and went on until after dark. It was a far cry from her childhood on the beaches of Hove, where money and food were scarce, but warmth and laughter never were. Yet from the gentleman with a penchant for stroking the housemaids' curlers, to raucous tea-dances with errand boys, to the heartbreaking story of Agnes the pregnant under-parlormaid, fired for being seduced by her mistress's nephew, Margaret's tales of her time in service are told with wit, warmth, and a sharp eye for the prejudices of her situation. Margaret Powell's true story of a life spent in service is a fascinating downstairs portrait of the glittering, long-gone worlds behind the closed doors of Downton Abbey and 165 Eaton Place.MARGARET POWELL was born in Hove in 1907 and dropped out of school at the age of 13 to work. She took a job in a hotel wash room when she was 14, and a year later she proceeded to work as a kitchen maid, eventually rising to the post of cook, before marrying Albert, a milkman. Down Stairs, the first volume of her memoirs, was published in 1968 to immediate popularity and made her a star. In 1984, she passed away.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781250005441 |
| ISBN 10 | 1250005442 |
| Title | Below Stairs |
| Author | Margaret Powell |
| Series | Below Stairs |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | St Martin's Press |
| Year published | 2012-01-03 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |