Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"

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Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"

by Margaret Powell, Leigh Crutchley (Ghost writer)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 4,435 ratings · 710 reviews

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...more

Hardcover, 212 pages

Published January 3rd 2012 by St. Martin's Press (first published 1968)

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Jan 17, 2012 Stacey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

Received this ARC as a First Reads winner. Before I read this, my knowledge of domestic service came mostly from reading Anne Perry's Thomas & Charlotte Pitt mysteries (I love their feisty maid Gracie!) as well as other period fiction. It was enlightening to read something from a domestic servant's point of view. I found Margaret Powell's varied experiences to be both funny and sad.

Before I read "Below Stairs:....", I read other reviews and many of them commented on the author's bitterness....more

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Aug 18, 2011 ^ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography, non-fiction, social-history, review-liked, books-with-1001-to-10000-ratings

I was surprised to find no mention of a ghost writer; because the style of the writing is very much 'as told'. That directness really does work well, because the reader is firmly put at the same level as the servants; and, boy, don't a number of the employers seem to inhabit some rarefied and distant plane!

Yes, one is left wishing that employers would be more considerate of the quality of life of their servants. But one can well see in Margaret Powell the dilemma to many: wondering how to be a h...more

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Jun 02, 2012 LikeTheDog rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

First published in 1968 in Britian; first U.S. edition 2012. Written as if Margaret Powell was conversing off the cuff, this gives a glimpse of life in the strictly class-drive society of early 20th Century England. It was all "us," the serant class, vs. "them," the upper-class employers -- not that all the employers consciously looked down on the help, but that many they didn't even think of them as people or notice their presence in the room. You'll like Margaret's keen sense of observation, a...more

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May 12, 2013 Kirsti rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anger, cake-eaters, deserves-the-hype, economics, humor, imagination, memoir, nonfiction, sarcasm, tea-drinkers, wish-it-had-been-fiction

This book inspired three TV series: Upstairs, Downstairs; Beryl's Lot; and Downton Abbey. I suspect that the Maisie Dobbs mystery series borrows from it too.

In a nutshell (with some spoilers): Thirteen-year-old girl wins scholarship, can't accept it because family needs her income, goes into domestic service, mostly hates it but soldiers on, leaves service to marry, and (decades later) becomes famous, beloved, and quite rich.

Words and expressions I learned:

pantechnicon: a furniture van

saxe blue...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Stein rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographical, history

At the conclusion of the book, Margaret Powell says "So despite what it may sound like, I'm not embittered about having had to go into domestic service." Readers would like to believe that but most of the contents and tone of the book can easily be understood as being the memoirs of an embittered domestic.

Fans of Downton Abbey and Berkeley Square may expect to discover tantalizing details of below and above stairs goings-on in this book but will be rather disappointed to learn that the dreary sl...more

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Mar 12, 2013 charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you like oral history or personal accounts, you'll enjoy this memoir. Originally published in 1968, it's the author's account of her time working as a domestic servant in England in the 1920s, although, as you can tell from the sub-title, it's been recently republished to capitalize on the popularity of Downton Abbey. So take that leftism and labor studies! Nothing popularizes working-class stories like the profit motive!

I became an avid Downton watcher last fall, and I was looking for a book...more If you like oral history or personal accounts, you'll enjoy this memoir. Originally published in 1968, it's the author's account of her time working as a domestic servant in England in the 1920s, although, as you can tell from the sub-title, it's been recently republished to capitalize on the popularity of Downton Abbey. So take that leftism and labor studies! Nothing popularizes working-class stories like the profit motive!

I became an avid Downton watcher last fall, and I was looking for a book to ease my parting with season 3. If you come to it hoping to read about the real Daisy or Mrs. Patmore, you'll be disappointed. Powell worked as a kitchen maid and cook sure enough, but never for the kind of grand house the television show depicts, with the large staff and elaborate ceremony. Nor were most of her employers "gentry"; rather, they were simply people who could afford a big house and the people to maintain it (some more than others).

What you do get here is an entertaining rehash of Powell's early life, full of anecdotes and details that are just too precise and too foreign to be made up. It's easy to see why filmmakers and fiction writers would be inspired: Powell gives historic information about the daily life of a 1920s home, from the material of the sink to the conventions of going to the movies, that aren't included in standard history books. All of it is well-told and well-written, with a pleasant folksiness. You'll feel as if you're sipping tea at your grandmother's kitchen table.

Sexual politics run throughout the book. Powell continually mentions her desire, as a young woman, to find a husband, marry, and get out of domestic service; and she describes at length the obstacles her schedule and position created to doing just that. It's hard to date when you work fourteen-hour days. While Powell did eventually marry, leave service, and have children, there isn't much romance in this book. Instead, you'll read a lot of Powell's thoughts on her different employers, the mores of changing jobs and getting that all-important reference, and relationships between the female servants, the cooks and maids. Powell speaks openly about her lack of sexual education, her fear of getting pregnant, and the repercussions if a young woman in her station did. Most of the male-female relationships here are frankly transactional: women exchange physical closeness for material gifts, and ultimately marry to live on their husband's wages.

If anything, I was most surprised by the bitterness Powell expresses toward her employers--not that she is bitter--that seems natural--but how open Powell speaks about the unfairness of the class system. She describes vividly, for instance, the humiliation of Christmas, when the servants have to assemble to receive "presents" from the family and graciously thank them, right before working overtime to handle the extra holiday entertaining and celebrating.

Powell is hardly a revolutionary, though: she speaks fondly of the one kind family she worked for, that treated the servants well by decorating their rooms with matching furniture instead of cast-offs and giving them their own Christmas tree. The semi-stated moral is that masters need to be kinder, and the whole master-servant issue will be solved. Powell also empathizes with the rich: if she had money, she admits, she'd do everything she could to keep it, too, instead of share-and-share alike.

In the end, Powell's writing did make her a woman with money, and the jacket description lauds her "ambition" to "aim high" even though she came from lowly origins. (What exactly she was aiming at--an ordinary college education, a life as a wife and mother?--and why this is so "high" is left unsaid.) The message, in the marketing and writing, is pure boot-strap conservatism, wherein we needn't concern ourselves with the fate of other domestic servants who didn't write bestselling memoirs, or the morality of a class system altogether.

So, read it, yes. But read it for the content, not the message.(less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

What a contrast to read this right after Julia Child's "My Life in France." With her acerbic wit and keen eye for social injustice -- not to mention the intellectual perseverance that led her to finally take and pass her O-levels after her children were grown -- Powell was clearly a force to be reckoned with, "in service" and out. Yet the function of the British class system at the time -- she was born in 1907 to a hardscrabble family -- was to continually "put her in her place," in other words...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: storia-di-uno

Scritto in maniera molto diretta e colloquiale, il libro racconta in prima persona la storia di Margaret, vissuta nell'epoca sognante in cui il ricco e/o nobile inglese amava circondarsi di servizievole personale domestico. Lei in realtà di sognante ha ben poco e dopo le prime pagine ce la possiamo già immaginare come una ragazzona che sa Il fatto suo, pratica e con chiari obiettivi in testa. Sarà per questo che ha fatto fortuna e, come dice la quarta di copertina, ha accumulato un gan capitale....more

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Jan 06, 2013 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, womens-studies, first-read-in-2013

I picked this up in the library due to the subtitle mentioning "Upstairs Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey". In this sense, the publisher's marketing ploy worked. Since this book was originally published in 1968, it is possible that it was one of the inspirations for the original "Upstairs Downstairs" that was first aired in 1971. (The show was started by actresses Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins. One or both of them may have read this book.) However, "Below Stairs", a partial autobiography by Margare...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, biographies

My Husband always seems to manage to surprise me at Christmas, with something I love and didn't know that I was missing or needed and this year wasn't an exception. In my pile of books from him this year was this one and a memories about the Lady that inspired Downton Abbey.

This book is written by Powell who grew up in a family that was always growing and parents who would barely make ends meet to survive. As early as she could Powell was sent to work and ended up going into service as a kitchen...more

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Dec 23, 2012 Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a delightful book even though the subject of being a kitchen maid in a wealthy household was far from delightful. The author had a sense of humor that made the book fast paced, funny, and interesting.

This book was the memoir of a "real" kitchen maid. It definitely was not a pleasant life, but the author kept the book light and factual. The household staff would work from sunup to sunset with no conveniences that we have today in the kitchen or for cleaning to a shine.
The staff would have t...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir

This memoir by Margaret Powell recounts her life in service, first as a kitchen maid and later as a cook in several different homes in 1920s England. Although subtitled as the inspiration for Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey and featuring a cover blurb by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, that's probably more marketing than fact. Below Stairs is really just about Powell's working life for the few years before she got married, and while it was often grim and grueling, you get the sense...more This memoir by Margaret Powell recounts her life in service, first as a kitchen maid and later as a cook in several different homes in 1920s England. Although subtitled as the inspiration for Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey and featuring a cover blurb by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, that's probably more marketing than fact. Below Stairs is really just about Powell's working life for the few years before she got married, and while it was often grim and grueling, you get the sense that the families for whom Powell worked weren't exactly the Bellamys or the Earl and Countess of Grantham. In many cases, they seemed to be people of position but little money, attempting to keep up appearances on a bare-bones household staff.

Powell's domestic career was fairly short; she doesn't say exactly how long, but it sounds as though it lasted a little more than five years. Her goal from the start was to find someone to marry so that she could stop working, and ultimately she did, marrying a milkman named Albert with whom she had three sons. Later in life she occasionally worked as a caterer, and she wrote a couple of novels as well as a series of memoirs, which I won't be reading because, honestly, she's just not that interesting. She's also a tiny bit unpleasant; at first it comes off like crotchety old lady stuff, with the constant refrain of the early chapters being, "X was so much better in my day -- there's none of this business like you get nowadays," where X is anything from how food tastes to the way that spiders spin their webs (and though she does acknowledge that people will find the latter claim ridiculous, she makes it anyway). But even from her perspective as a young woman -- teenager, really -- she's fairly calculating, as for example when one of her married employers repeatedly corners her and makes vaguely sexual advances, her main complaint is that he doesn't offer her a box of chocolates or other gift in order to persuade her.

This was a decent enough read, but because Powell's domestic career was fairly brief and because by hiring herself out as a cook before she actually knew how to cook she doomed herself to jobs that no one else wanted in homes that couldn't get anyone better, I don't know how necessarily characteristic her story is of a household employee at that time. If you're interested in Powell, I guess it's great, but if you want to know what it was like to be a cook or a parlour maid or a footman or a butler, then you won't find that here. (less)

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Sep 22, 2012 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

STORY DESCRIPTION:

Pan MacMillan|March 29, 2012|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-330-53538-0

A compelling and colourful memoir that takes the reader inside the forgotten world of domestic service.

Arriving at the great houses of 1920’s London, fifteen-year-old Margaret’s life in service was about to begin…

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 even bootlaces to be ironed. Work...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Margaret Langley Powell, born in Hove, England, in 1907, contributed to a beloved sub-section of popular culture, and yet few people know her name. Her memoir, Below Stairs, was originally published in 1968 and was the basis for the original Upstairs/Downstairs, which begat the sequel and, of course, Downton Abbey. Until this year, the book had only been published in the UK, and getting a copy in the U.S. proved harder than expected, so although I've been an Upstairs/Downstairs fan since the 197...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Marvel rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a quick but interesting read. The author tells her story of living life in domestic service in England early in the 20th century. She has a great sense of humor, which I am sure served her well in the hard life she lived. She served many different families over the years, mainly as help in the kitchen, eventually working her way up to being the main cook. Her observations about the families she lived with and worked for are telling. Human nature never really changes. Most people will al...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Joanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

1968 memoir from a former kitchen maid-turned-cook, which has renewed interest because apparently the director of Downton Abbey has used it for reference. It's mildly interesting, since Powell worked in a variety of situations, but she's also fairly grumpy about it. Lots of "things were different in my day," comments, kind of like listening to an oldtimer telling you how much harder life was for them. Undoubtedly true, but a whole book of grump gets tiresome. She talks a lot about wanting to get...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Regina Spiker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: maids, servants, help

If you love the movie Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs - this is the perfect read for you. Growing up in Hove, England, Margaret Powell, came from a very loving, but poor family. At age seven she was preparing breakfast for her siblings and ushering them to school. Even though Margaret was extremely bright and was given a scholarship, she began work at the tender age of 13 to help her family. Big for her age, she could pass for several years older and was, unfortunately, asked to do even mo...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Dylan rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a person who loves history and a huge fan of "Downton Abby", I was interested in reading this book. This memoir tells about England in the 20th century through the eyes of Margaret Powell. Mararet at the age of 15 goes into domestic service as a kitchen maid. Living below "them", as in her employers we here of Margaret's experiences. Bonding and making friends with other servants, dealing with "them", all of her ridicules jobs, and losing and switching jobs. As she progress to a cook from a...more

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May 04, 2012 K rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, non-fiction-historical

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid’s Memoir That Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey by Margaret Powell

Continuing to feed on the popularity of the PBS series Downton Abbey we are given a memoir from the servant’s point of view in the book Below Stairs. Originally published in UK in 1968 it has been reintroduced to the public by St. Martin’s Press with the statement from Julian Fellowes (creator of Downton Abbey) noting that “Margaret Powell was the first person outside my family...more Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid’s Memoir That Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey by Margaret Powell

Continuing to feed on the popularity of the PBS series Downton Abbey we are given a memoir from the servant’s point of view in the book Below Stairs. Originally published in UK in 1968 it has been reintroduced to the public by St. Martin’s Press with the statement from Julian Fellowes (creator of Downton Abbey) noting that “Margaret Powell was the first person outside my family to introduce me to that world, so near and yet seemingly so far away, where servants and their employers would live their vividly different lives under one roof. Her memories, funny and poignant, angry and charming, haunted me until, many years later, I made my own attempts to capture those people for the camera. I certainly owe her a great debt.”

What he writes about is the short memoir of Margaret Powell who lived and worked in 1920’s England. After a few brief chapters on life as a child (and a young student) she describes how at age 13 she had to leave school even though she had won a scholarship due to her family’s economic situation. Starting off with odd jobs she moved on to working as a hotel maid at age 14. Later she became a kitchen maid to some of the large homes. Her goal was to become the “cook” who ruled the roost below stairs.

The author tells it like she saw it – at times she is feisty, angry and cutting about the people she meets both below and above (labeled as “Them”). Unlike what we see in both Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey there was a lot of smelly, dirty, grimy, hot and hard work handled by those who only received one afternoon and evening off (4:00-10:00) and alternate Sundays off the same hours for 24 pounds a year. Otherwise work began at 5:30 and went till late at night seven days a week. Powell’s hatred of her work and her life definitely shows through in her writings where very little is pleasant.

So if you are ready to read about the glamor of “Upstairs” this book won’t be for you. If you want to read the perspective of one of the real lives of “Downstairs” then feel free to pick it up and breeze through it in one day. But be ready for some cutting remarks and stories that make you wonder how they actually were able to do the work. And the “Upstairs” for the most part does not come off well at all. While this is not a piece of great literary work it is a way to understand what it was like for the 1920’s “Downstairs” workers. Powell wrote a number of other books after Below Stairs came out and made her a celebrity. She passed away in 1984.
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Apr 22, 2012 Dawn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-fodder

My gran could have written this book. It certainly sounded like her voice coming down through time! A fascinating first hand account of what life was like at the early part of the 19th century for so many bright, capable women. Choices were few and life was outlined almost from birth if you were born into a working-class family of uncertain means. My great grandfather, who served galantly in the war, raised three children in Paddington on a carman's wages.

My gran went into service as a laundry...more My gran could have written this book. It certainly sounded like her voice coming down through time! A fascinating first hand account of what life was like at the early part of the 19th century for so many bright, capable women. Choices were few and life was outlined almost from birth if you were born into a working-class family of uncertain means. My great grandfather, who served galantly in the war, raised three children in Paddington on a carman's wages.

My gran went into service as a laundry maid at 14. She was bright, gifted musically (played the piano by ear), had a sharp, penetrating sense of humor and a way with words. But undereducated, she had few opportunities to shine. Like Margaret, she decided to marry and be a mum, but unlike Margaret, she was pretty and outgoing and didn't have a problem finding a suitable (actually unsuitable was more the case) husband.

Powell makes some astute observations and social commentary that were right in line with the sufferage movement that gave women the vote but it was probably WWI that opened up society and started the movement towards a more fair and equitable society where wages were earned for a fair day's work and the understanding that treating servants, or laborers or any working class trade, fairly and more humanely was a way to keep them in your service for a longer. Is was going to take much more time, another world war, the rise of socialism, massive immigration and the raise of feminism before bright, intelligent women like Powell go their day.

One of the saddest comments in her book (for me) came in the last chapters when she described her self as aggressive and took great pains to assure the reader that she was not bitter. I believe her, but today, I think we would call her smart, funny, wary, astute, assertive and savvy. If only she had born 100 years later, who knows what this woman could have written or what she might have contributed to our understanding of society. A really great read.(less)

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Mar 06, 2012 Caren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-nonfiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which has apparently been reissued due to current interest in "Downton Abbey". (The book was originally published in 1968.)The author, who lived from 1907 -1984, gives a pretty clear picture of life for Britian's working poor in the early part of the 20th century. She left school at thirteen, even though she had won a scholarship to continue. Her parents would have had to provide books and clothing for her, and with so many other children in the family, it was sim...more I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which has apparently been reissued due to current interest in "Downton Abbey". (The book was originally published in 1968.)The author, who lived from 1907 -1984, gives a pretty clear picture of life for Britian's working poor in the early part of the 20th century. She left school at thirteen, even though she had won a scholarship to continue. Her parents would have had to provide books and clothing for her, and with so many other children in the family, it was simply understood that this was not possible. After she lost a job working in a laundry, at the age of fifteen, she went into service. She tells in great detail what this job was like. Her goal during those years was to "snaffle" (her word) a delivery boy and get married. She certainly didn't want to marry someone else who was in service; her goal was to escape that life. She began as a kitchen maid and worked her way up to cook. She has told this story with a wry sense of humor, but the injustices of her situation are not glossed over. Telling this story years later, as an older woman, she still remembers the disdain with which the lady of the house takes a newspaper from her with the admonishment that in future, nothing should come directly from her hands, but be presented on a salver. The author's personality shines through her words. I loved the little idioms she used (such as "it's all my eye and Betty Martin"), and had to look up their meanings. Here is a very intelligent woman who educated herself by reading, something which apparently astonished some of her employers (and even a more sympathetic employer). Here is an excerpt from pg.206-7:
'You must treat things better, Margaret', she said. 'Don't you love good objects?' 'No, I don't, Mrs. Schwab,' I said. 'To me, they are just material things; I have an affinity with G.K. Chesterton who wrote about the malignity of inanimate objects,' I said, 'and I think they are malign because they take up so much of my time, dusting, polishing, and cleaning them. Look at that vase, I said, that you say is worth a hundred pounds, if that was to drop on the floor and break it would just be three or four worthless bits of china.' That set her back on her heels for a few seconds. 'I didn't know you read, Margaret,' she said....

Here is another excerpt from pg. 211:
"I'd love to be rich. There's nothing particularly beautiful about being poor,...Those people who say the rich should share what they've got are talking a lot of my eye and Betty Martin; it's only because they haven't got it they think that way. I wouldn't reckon to share mine around."

Yes, these are the memories of a feisty, likeable woman, and it is wonderful that she recorded her thoughts about this long ago world so that we may know what it was like.(less)

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Feb 20, 2012 Naberius rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading this book is very much like listening to someone sit and tell you stories. The author has a very straightforward style, where she is just telling you about her life. It's very entertaining -- she has a good sense of humor about things, but at the same time, she doesn't soften things; it's clear that what she did was hard work, both as a kitchen maid, but also as a cook.

She came from a large family, and entered service at the age of 15, in the 1920s. I found it fascinating to read about a...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Dawn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography, library-books, history

Below Stairs is the book that inspired the epic British television classic "Upstairs Downstairs" and is currently enjoying a bit of a renaissance with the popularity of the Beeb's newest period drama "Downton Abbey".

Repackaged with a new jacket and a cover button with kudos by Dame Eileen Atkins, this memoir is still a worthy read, if a bit dry. It's written in the older style of such things, when you hinted at scandal rather than telling, and never named names or places... although telling pec...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Susan Peterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

The cover of the book compares Below Stairs to "Downton Abbey" and "Upstairs, Downstairs." In fact, the image of Daisy, the kitchen maid in "Downton Abbey" kept floating through my mind as I read. But what this book has that the two series don't is a closely wrought picture of the life and heart of a kitchen maid. We see images of young Margaret, new to service, polishing the front door brass until her hands swell with chillblains, only to be dragged in front of the mistress of the house for a d...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Melissa Prange rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

With the present success of the British television series Downton Abbey, St. Martin's Press has re-released the classic memoir, Below Stairs. In Below Stairs, Margaret Powell recounts her career in domestic service and vividly recreates the world in which she lived.

As a child, Margaret Powell hoped to become a teacher, but her family was poor and there was no public assistance to pay for her education. Instead, she entered the workforce at the age of thirteen. For two years, she worked a series...more With the present success of the British television series Downton Abbey, St. Martin's Press has re-released the classic memoir, Below Stairs. In Below Stairs, Margaret Powell recounts her career in domestic service and vividly recreates the world in which she lived.

As a child, Margaret Powell hoped to become a teacher, but her family was poor and there was no public assistance to pay for her education. Instead, she entered the workforce at the age of thirteen. For two years, she worked a series of odd jobs in her hometown of Hove, culminating in her dismissal from a laundry service for turning fifteen (the laundry wished to avoid giving her a half a crown raise). Her mother then decided it was time for her to enter domestic service. Margaret began her career with a position as a lowly kitchen maid but within three years, rose to the rank of cook through hard work and a bit of lying.

The joy I felt in reading Below Stairs had little to do with my fondness for Downton Abbey and much more to do with Margaret's unique voice and the world she describes so clearly. Through her no-nonsense narration, we are transported back to the time between wars. Margaret introduces the reader to a post-World War I England in which everything has changed and yet many of its people are still reticent about moving forward. Many of Margaret's employers were once something but are now forced to live on dwindling fortunes with only the good, old days to keep them company. Courtship no longer resembles that of Victorian England, and Margaret struggles to keep up as she searches for a husband. Women, in general, struggle to gain autonomy while society struggles with accepting them as independent, single women. Daily life now includes bicycling, car rides, cinema, and theater going. It’s a fascinating time, and Margaret allows the reader to experience it all through the eyes of a firsthand observer.

Throughout Below Stairs, Margaret guides us through her world with a straightforward and feisty voice. The reader becomes well acquainted with her and, by the last page, are reluctant to say good-bye to her and her world.
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Jan 10, 2012 Madeline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-nonfiction

Do you watch Downton Abbey?

If you answered yes, congratulations, we can continue being friends. I'm currently obsessed with that show, and so when I was in Barnes and Noble last week browsing through the biography/memoir section (like I do) this caught my eye, and I was about to put it back when I noticed that the title was blaring MEMOIR THAT INSPIRED "UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS" AND "DOWNTON ABBEY" and the next thing I knew I bought it. So kudos to the marketing team behind this book, because they k...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Oracleofdoom rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm going to do the best I can here, but I actually don't read much non-fiction. I just don't typically find it engaging. This was the selection for my book club for April, and the subject matter interested me. I'm just not sure how to review a memoir, because I feel I can't hold it to the standards to which I would hold a novel, can I?

At any rate, I found everything the author described fascinating. I typically get bored reading most non-fiction, so this says a great deal about her writing styl...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Linda K K rated it 4 of 5 stars

Margaret Langley was rather a spitfire of a girl, beginning to serve as a kitchen maid in 1920's England. This memoir is what the creators of Downton Abbey used for some of their inspiration.

The book begins with her family background in Hobe, near Brighton. Her family was rather poor and at the age of 14, Margaret needed to be in the work force. She began in a laundry, but soon moved on as was her way in life, to continue to move onto better positions. She appley conveys the hard work and dowdy...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: advance-reader-copy, memoirs

Thank you, St. Martin's Press....for selecting me to receive an ARC.

Now...for my review. I have to admit…I have always been fascinated with literature and movies that feature the affluent aristocratic folk who wore fancy dresses …who never worked or sweat…who dined at fancy tables decked out with all the fixings…. ….and I think…ohhhhh what a life that would be!!!.

However, this memoir demystifies aristocracy to the point that you feel the degradation that this class of people show to the lower...more Thank you, St. Martin's Press....for selecting me to receive an ARC.

Now...for my review. I have to admit…I have always been fascinated with literature and movies that feature the affluent aristocratic folk who wore fancy dresses …who never worked or sweat…who dined at fancy tables decked out with all the fixings…. ….and I think…ohhhhh what a life that would be!!!.

However, this memoir demystifies aristocracy to the point that you feel the degradation that this class of people show to the lower class......people who consider themselves to be so elite that they demand to have things served to them on a platter and wouldn’t dare accept anything from the hands of a servant. It must be served on a platter!! And…to have to their boot laces ironed....come on!!

This book isn’t so much about aristocrats and the affluent society…It’s about domestic service and how those in domestic service “spoon-fed” the affluent. The author describes what it was like serving “Them” as she referred to the upper-class.

The author’s voice (Margaret Powell) is authentic. You feel like she is sitting right there…telling you her story in her british voice. She sounds like a 70 year old woman with an extremely vivid memory….recounting her life as a cook. She worked for a lot of different families and households. She uses interesting expressions. “I worked for a vicar which was jolly good work”. Several times…she refers to men with a “face like the back of the bus”. She's quite witty.

Most of the book is about the labor and injustice of the working class…but one story I can’t forget is about a housemaid named Agnes who got pregnant. The other maids tried everything to help her have a miscarriage like lugging heavy buckets of water, hot mustard baths, jumping off park benches…moving furniture….nothing worked. Once she started “showing”…the employers found out and the poor young girl was fired from her job in domestic service because she was no longer of use to her employers. And, all the while, the author suspected that the father of the baby was an actual relative of the family.

Something completely fascinating to me…was the freshness of food. Everything was delivered fresh. Milk was delivered 3 times a day. The iceman would deliver a lump of ice morning. Meat and fish was delivered fresh. Everything was fresh. They didn’t have modern refrigeration and freezing, or canning like we do today. The author describes how she made mayonnaise, horseradish sauce, potato chips, and parmesan cheese.

The author spent most of her life, trying to get out of domestic service. She wanted to be married, more than anything. What is so ironic about this…is that when a working class woman got married, she continued domestic service…in the raising of children and serving of husband. So, Margaret Powell never really did leave domestic service.

Margaret was living in a period of time called the "Edwardanian" period...around 1901-1920. At the end of the book…she admits...she would love to be rich. Who wants to be poor? She admits her bitterness….but on the other hand, she admits to having a happy life and enjoying life.

I'm glad that she told her story...we have a lot to learn from her life. It certainly does put a spot light on social class issues of the Edwardanian time period.(less)

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Feb 05, 2013 Artemis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: via-giveaways

This quick, fun little read didn't feel like a book. Instead, I felt like I was having a cup of tea and a scone with Margaret Powell and listening to her answer the question "So, tell me about your experience in service". Born in 1907, Margaret was offered a scholarship at age 13, but as the eldest daughter, her parents could not afford to let her continue school and instead had to go straight to work to support her family. She hated sewing, and had a good amount of sass in her, so her best bet...more This quick, fun little read didn't feel like a book. Instead, I felt like I was having a cup of tea and a scone with Margaret Powell and listening to her answer the question "So, tell me about your experience in service". Born in 1907, Margaret was offered a scholarship at age 13, but as the eldest daughter, her parents could not afford to let her continue school and instead had to go straight to work to support her family. She hated sewing, and had a good amount of sass in her, so her best bet was to start off as a kitchen maid, the absolute lowest head on the totem pole of domestic service. She talks briefly about each of her various employers and compares the conditions and lifestyle at each; I think the longest she stayed anywhere was two years. She only had one temporary 3 month post at a home similar to "Downton Abbey" in which the domestics were treated kindly and made to feel truly valued and appreciated.

There are some funny anecdotes, like the time she was asked to create a meal from leftovers she'd already thrown away, or when she was singing in the kitchen for several hours and her employer's husband heard her via the dumbwaiter. But she was really not in service for very long and quit to get married. So while I enjoyed her stories, they're actually fairly short. She worked in service right at the end of the era, when conditions were much better than they'd been for hundreds of years prior. In fact, she even has a bit of sympathy for the impoverished gentry, who were so used to having servants that when they lost everything they were too helpless to take care of themselves.

What I found very interesting were the first and last sections. In the first, she describes what it was like to be a poor child in England and yet play in the same parks as the gentry. In the last, she describes how she struggled to put her three sons through school when her husband was drafted for WWII, including being humiliated when applying at a charity for shoes for her sons, and aching for her boys when they were forced to get their free meal tickets in front of the entire class.

This leads to another interesting point: she compares social standards in the 1920s and 1930s to those when the book was written in 1968. For example, unmarried poor girls who got pregnant had absolutely no resources, and perhaps with a bit of indignation she expresses how much easier it is in 1968 for these women, describing homes and adoption agencies. So I found it interesting to compare 1968 to today, when these same girls get a shload of social benefits and their own reality show on MTV. Poor Margaret would have had a fit.(less)

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About Margaret Powell

Margaret Powell (1907 – 1984) was an English writer. Her book about her experiences in domestic service, Below Stairs, became a best-seller and she went on to write other books and became a television personality. Below Stairs was an impetus for Upstairs, Downstairs and the basis of Beryl's Lot, and is one of the inspirations of Downton Abbey. wikipedia

More about Margaret Powell...

Books by Margaret Powell

Servants' Hall: A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs Romance

Margaret Powell's Cookery Book: 500 Upstairs Recipes from Everyone's Favorite Downstairs Kitchen Maid and Cook

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“I used to wonder why... Mum kept having babies... that was the only pleasure poor people could afford . It cost nothing--at least at the time when you were actually making the children. The fact that it would cost you something later on, well, the working-class people never looked ahead in those days.” — 3 people liked it

“The language and the atmosphere there reminded me of Dante's Inferno.” — 2 people liked it

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title link	preview: Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"
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Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"

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