Minding the Manor: The Memoir of a 1930's English Kitchen Maid by Mollie Moran

Mollie Moran writes her book in a conversational style, making readers feel that we are visiting an elderly neighbor or relative who has good stories to tell.  Mollie Brown was born in rural England in 1916 to a poor but resourceful family. A bright, outdoor-loving tomboy, she left school at age fourteen to make her own way in the world. She was thrilled to get a position as a scullery maid in a London home. Part of a large staff (fourteen people served two men), at first she was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of heavy scrubbing she was expected to do. (She washed dishes for not only her two masters but all fourteen servants.) But with the help of friendship, good humor, physical strength and emotional pluck, she survived and eventually thrived. She was promoted to kitchen maid and learned some cooking skills which led to more promotions. Eventually she became a valued cook.

But this book is not only about drudgery below stairs. Just like any teenage girl, Mollie was interested in clothes and boys. She never wasted a minute of her free time, going to all the dances she could and getting mixed up with the Blackshirts in Hyde Park, (attracted by the boys and not the politics). She embarrassed her employer by posing in her bathing costume for a picture that ended up in the “News of the World” newspaper, a weekly tabloid that just went out of publication in 2011. During her time in London, she caught glimpses of members of the Royal Family as well as Wallace Simpson.

At the onset of World War II, she met and married a service man in the RAF. They were separated for the duration of the war, but in the post-war years she and her children accompanied him to his postings in the Far East. Her willingness to embrace opportunity and try new experiences helped her in this phase of her life just as it did when she worked as a maid.

At ninety-seven years of age, Mollie Moran has an excellent memory and sense of humor. Minding the Manor: the Memoir of a 1930's English Kitchen Maid is an engaging personal story.

Check out Minding the Manor @ the library!

The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey

What begins as a trip to do research for an upcoming book turns into a real-life mystery for television producer Catherine Bailey.  The Secret Rooms reads like something in a PBS Masterpiece or Downton Abbey script:  historian goes to giant English castle to research for a book and is let into a series of rooms that have been completely sealed off for more than 60 years.  While going through the extensive trove of family letters, she notices that all of the letters from the person she is most interested in, John, the 9^th Duke of Rutland, are missing for about six months of World War I.  Not only that: all of the letters from all of the family members are missing during the exact same dates.  Another queer fact pops up during this mystery: John died in the series of rooms where all of the family records were kept though he was suffering from a preventable illness.  What was he feverishly working on until the moment of his death?  Her original book idea abandoned due to a lack of primary sources, the thought continually nags at her: why, if the 9^th Duke was such a meticulous records keeper, would such a large bunch of letters be missing?  What transpires is a twisting hunt through decades of family and government records. 

After much searching, Bailey discovers that there was not one gap in the family’s letters, but three.  Once again, not only John’s letters, but those of the entire family were missing for the periods beginning on August 23^rd 1894, June 6^th 1909 and July 7^th 1915.  While she surmises that the gap in 1915 could potentially have something to do with the war, the gaps for 1909 (when John was stationed at the British Embassy in Rome) and the gap in 1894 (when John was only eight years old) are particularly puzzling.  Was John hiding something that he did or was he covering for someone else?

Bailey takes us on a thrilling ride through the early 20^th British aristocracy and the secrets they kept.  This book is a great choice for both readers who enjoy the writing style of Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City and those who enjoy the world of Downton Abbey.  The Secret Rooms is a fascinating true history of a family who would do almost anything to see their estate and way of life survive.  

Check out The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey @ the library!

Snobs by Julian Fellowes

Many of you probably know that Julian Fellowes writes for the beloved English period drama Downton Abbey.  You may even know that he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film Gosford Park in 2002.  But did you know that he used to be an actor?  And that he's also a novelist?  His 2004 novel simply titled Snobs takes a look into a modern day Downton Abbey-type manor house.  But lest you think this book is all "Upstairs vs. Downstairs," let me assure you that it is not.  It is really about how the class system is very much alive and well in England to this day.  And how the aristocracy treats everyone else.  It is a comedy of manners- or perhaps, a lack-there-of.

Snobs is written mostly from the point of view of an actor who was born an aristocrat, and he tells the tale of Edith Lavery and the Broughtons, who hold the seat as to the Marquess of Uckfield.  Edith, who was brought up in an upper-middle class household by a mother who longed to be debutante, is a very attractive blonde who agrees to go along with her mother's plans for coming out and taking an active roll in London's debutante season.  Nearly nine years later, Edith is working a boring desk job and hasn't landed a rich husband- or any husband at all.  While visiting the friends in Sussex, Edith, our narrator and their host Isabel Easton, decide to take a public tour of the nearby manor house Broughton Hall.  The group run into one of the members of the family while on the tour and Charles Broughton (heir to the Marquess and one of England's most eligible bachelors) takes a shine to Edith.  Months later, the narrator and Edith are both invited to join the Eastons at Ascot in London.  The group run into Charles again and the Earl manages to convince Edith to join him for tea.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Charles eventually proposes to Edith and being the pragmatic individual that she is, Edith accepts.  But life as an Earl's wife is hardly what she imagined it would be.  First, there's Charles mother, Lady Uckfield (known affectionately by the ridiculous nickname "Googie"). Lady Uckfield probably hates Edith with a venomous passion but seeing as manners and decorum dictate that she act as if she love Edith, never shows her true feelings.  Googie knows that Edith is not a true aristocrat and that is the one failing that Edith can never make up no matter how hard she tries.  Edith is, and always will be, an outsider.  Then there's the fact that Charles, while a good, loyal, man is rather...boring.  And though Edith plays her part and immerses herself in running flower shows, working with local charities and enjoying life in a grand house, she finds herself to be very unhappy.

Almost a year into their marriage, the Broughtons decide to let a production company film a period drama on the estate.  Our narrator secures a role in the production and is there to witness Edith finally come off the rails.  Throwing all caution and common sense to the wind, Edith begins an affair with the film's handsome leading man, leaves Charles and sets up shop with her new lover in London.  Our poor narrator is then forced to become a sort of go-between for Edith and the Broughton family.

Snobs is a novel about the less glamorous side of the English elite and can be practically summed up in the following quote:

"The English, of all classes as it happens, are addicted to exclusivity.  Leave three Englishmen in a room and they will invent a rule that prevents a fourth joining them."

A delightful read for any who enjoy English history and culture.