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Comments (16)

Below Stairs

the Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"
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Mar 20, 2023ireland29 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Absolutely fascinating. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys history and watching historical dramas about this time period.
InnaBB
Jul 06, 2022InnaBB rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Good reading. But author's bitterness takes away from the joy. (although at the end the author says she is not bitter, but I couldn't help but thinking exactly opposite while reading).
Feb 19, 2022Logovore rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Personal experiences from "below-stairs". I just have to wonder how much this was sanitized for publication. Either that, or Powell was somewhat luckier in her situations than I think many women in service were...
olwils21
May 09, 2021olwils21 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
An interesting, and quick, read for anyone who misses Downton Abbey as much as I do.
Feb 19, 2021tootiebooks99 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
An excellent rendering of a household cook!
ezhurbin
Mar 09, 2016
Reading this book is like gossiping with a friend-it waivers between interesting and tiring. I really did enjoy reading about details of day to day life of servants, but toward the end of the book it began to get repetitive and boring. The…
Aug 22, 2014
A patron review from the Adult Summer Game: "This is a true recounting of Margaret Powell's unemotional memories of her time in service as a kitchen maid and cook for the British upper class. This is the book that inspired "Upstairs,…
May 27, 2013MissEavis rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Good book, a simple but entertaining accout of a much different and simple life ;-)
Mar 18, 2013andrea_gregus rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Really easy and quick read. Interesting to to read about the life of this woman. Really enjoyed it for a quick read.
Oct 09, 2012ownedbydoxies rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a straight-talking, hard-working woman who reminisces about her life in service to a wide variety of families in Britain before WWII. I laughed aloud several times at her descriptions of employers and herself. She was a smart…
Aug 02, 2012BucketsOfCool rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Easy to read and super interesting!
May 31, 2012cmwallsm rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Witty telling of life in service in 1920s Britain. As fascinating as it is unimaginable. A great read for those who love Downton Abbey.
Apr 27, 2012AuntJane rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is an easy read book of Margaret Langley's life. Coming from a poverty stricken home in Hove, England, she took the only type of job she could get having completed school to the 8th grade and hating sewing. Her descriptions as…
Apr 26, 2012ErnieK rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A life "in service" told in her own voice, it's a great read. Very frank and forthright, a great contribution to the writings of women about work and its value in society.
Apr 03, 2012gloryb rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A very readable memoir. I was struck with the contrast of life between teens today and Powell's teen years. Although as kitchen help she had to toe the line and claims she suffered from an inferiority complex, Powell's demand for more…
hgeng63
Jan 20, 2012hgeng63 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Kind of pedestrian to me, or maybe that's because I got most of the gist of it from excerpts from The World of Downton Abbey.