Below Stairs

"Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants portrayed in Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, Margaret Poweel'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 1920's. As a kitchen maid -the lowest of the low- she entered an entirely new world: one of stoves to be blacked, mistresses to be appeased, and bootlaces to be ironed. From the gentleman with a penchant for stroking the housemaids' curlers, to the raucous tea dances with errand boys, Margaret's tales of her time in service are told with wit, warmth, and a sharp eye in a fascinating "downstairs" portrait of life behind the closed doors of the grand houses like Downton Abbey and 165 Eaton Place."-St. Martin's Griffin Press 

Margaret Powell, 212 pages, softback