Title: Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey
Author: Margaret Powell
Publisher: (Original) Peter Davies Ltd., 1968 (Current) St. Martin's Press, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-250-00544-1
Pages: 212
Why I choose this particular book: I'm a huge Downton Abbey fan, I loved Upstairs, Downstairs as well as Gosford Park and other period pieces. I have my BA in history and have always enjoyed reading historical fiction along side of non-fiction works. I'd heard about this book but finally decided to read it after a friend (and fellow Downton fan) posted a picture on Facebook of a book shop window featuring a themed display- a sort of if-you-like-Downton-you'll-like-these-books type thing. I'd read a few of the books featured and enjoyed them so I thought it was time to give Below Stairs a chance. I requested it through my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 19, 2012 at 7:10 PM
Finished reading: June 22, 2012 at 11:37 AM
I really enjoyed the conversational, British-cheeky tone of the book. Margaret's style is very relaxed and easy. It was like listening to my grandmother telling stories of her life growing up in the twenties. I found it interesting how Margaret would comment about her family's living situation, the obvious poverty while she grew up, the lack of opportunities available to her, and be very nonchalant about it all. She accepted her past and looked for the positive aspects of life without letting it all drag her down. Her attitude may have been perspective - she wrote this book in her late fifties - or it may have just been her way to cope with it, I don't know. The only regret she seems to carry throughout her life is that, because of her family's lack of money, she was unable to accept a scholarship to become a teacher. She mentions it a few times, especially when she talks about her sons and their educations. She's very proud in the end of the book when she tells her readers that she passed her 'O' levels when she was 58 and was hoping to take the Advance levels before she turned 60.
The stories Margaret lays out are sometimes incredible but you get the feeling that she's not exaggerating overmuch. There may be a few embellishments but nothing outrageous. Her employers ran the gamut, from caring and benevolent overseers, very paternalistic, to (more commonly) stingy grumps looking to get whatever they could for as little money possible. Her employers (or 'Them' as Margaret calls them) all had their peculiar idiosyncrasies - one set wanted their shoelaces ironed, another employer enjoyed touching the curlers in the housemaids' hair, one woman (an Italian, Margaret is quick to note) gives her daily menu orders while soaking naked in the bathtub.
The influences on Downton and Upstairs are apparent. Some of the situations from the book show up clearly in those shows - the maid caught in a family way, the servants having the run of the home while the family is away, the rigid attitudes about a person's place in the house. While I was reading Below Stairs, anytime I came across one of these incidents, I could picture similar scenes from the shows. Granted, these all may have been common enough occurrences and the creators may have found inspiration anywhere but Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, is quoted as saying that "I certainly owe her [Margaret Powell] a great debt."
As Margaret got older her main goal was to find a husband. She wanted to be out of service so all of her co-workers were off limits. Her escapades while dating had me laughing out loud a few times. Some of her potential husbands were quite the characters. Soldiers were terrible boyfriends because they never had spare cash. Officers in the Royal Navy were "the snootiest'. Some were too ugly. One, a window washer, was too mean (cheap). They were all very handsy (see quote below about men's behavior). Eventually, though, she found a suitable mate, Albert. Margaret explained that finding a husband was difficult because, even though getting married was very respectable, having boyfriends wasn't. Employers "... made you feel that there was something intrinsically bad in having a member of the opposite sex interested in you at all" (194) and they discouraged dating. Here she highlights the difference in attitudes towards debutantes and domestics - it was quite alright for the daughters of the rich to go around with men in order to find a mate but female servants weren't allowed male visitors and had to find time to sneak out to meet their beaus.
The book was a fantastic read and had quite a few quotable passages. Here are some of my favorites:
On her early religious studies: "But we all had to go to Sunday School, not because my parents were religious, but because it kept us out of the way: Sunday afternoons were devoted to lovemaking because there was not much privacy in working-class families... So, Sunday afternoon, after a mighty big dinner..., was the time spent lying on the bed, making love and having a good old doze... So that's why Sunday School was so popular then." (p. 3-4)
On uniforms: "It's a sad fact that uniform does nothing for a woman at all. It just accentuates all the wrong bulges, but even the most insignificant male seems to look masculine when he's got a uniform on. Maybe because it's cut to show off whatever points he has got (I'm not being vulgar), I mean to accentuate them." (p. 109)
On men's behavior: "... I had to listen to such a long lecture on the evils of such wanton behavior. No nice young man would ever suggest such a thing to a girl he hoped to marry. Have you ever heard such drivel because that's one of the things they always suggested. Whether they're likely to marry you or not, they like to try their goods out first. I've never been out with a man that didn't suggest it, believe me." (p. 114)
On marriage: "I wasn't madly in love, but I cared about him, which I thought was a good basis to get married on." (p. 194)
On group behavior: "People have the same herd instinct as animals. There's only got to be one that's different and they kick the hell out of him." (p. 202)
And, lastly, on the past: "I know it's all dead and gone. Things like that don't happen now. But I think it's worth not forgetting that they did happen." (p. 212)
Similar Reads:
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon (I really enjoyed this look into Highclere's history. There's also quite a bit of information about the men who uncovered Tutankhamun's tomb if you like Egyptian history as well.)
Upstairs, Downstairs
Discussion:
Have you read this book? What did/didn't you like about the book? Are you a Downton Fan? Have any book suggestions for me? Let me know in the comments!
I haven't read Below Stairs, but I am a fan of Downton Abbey, and will certainly have to look for this.
ReplyDeleteYour review reminds me of The Help as well - I'm sure you read it, but you might add it to the, "if you like this, you'll like..."
It was fun stumbling across Downton-esque incidents in the book and knowing this was the inspiration.
DeleteI loved The Help, it was such a fantastic read! Thanks so much for the comment!