Over a Hot Stove

by Flo Wadlow, Alan Childs (Editor)

THIS DELIGHTFUL MEMOIR PROVIDES A UNIQUE 'UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS' ACCOUNT OF WHAT LIFE WAS REALLY LIKE IN A BYGONE ERA.At the age 16, Flo Wadlow left her family to begin what would become a distinguished life "in service". Starting as a kitchen maid in London, she soon rose through the ranks and worked at many of England's great houses, including Woodhall in Hilgay, where she met scullery maid Mollie Moran, author of 'Aprons and Silver Spoons'; and Hatfield House and Blicking Hall. By her early 20s, Flo was in charge of the kitchen and cooked for prime ministers and royalty.'OVER A HOT STOVE' is a must-listen/read for fans of 'Downtown Abbey'.RUNNING TIME ⇒ 3hrs. and 11mins.2007 Flow Wadlow (P)2020 Tantor

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Biography, Autobiography, British Literature, Historical

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

Reviews

[Fiona MacDonald]

A cheerful and chirpy look at life below the scenes for a young cook named Flo Wadlow. Starting in relatively minor places of employment, she was soon in charge of the kitchen at Blickling Hall, and made lasting memories there. This account traces her jobs from beginning to end, with her never-ending enthusiasm and passion for cooking never faltering.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)]

Very short, very sweet. No dissing on the great and the good to be found here--Wadlow is the essence of the "family retainers" of 19th and early 20th century fiction, though down in the kitchen she was too far from the action to live vicariously through her employers. She also moved around too much, spending little more than a year in most posts until she got married--and in those days married women weren't expected to remain in service unless their husband was the butler or something.

A light, fast read. I wished there might have been a bit more depth--not dishing dirt, but a few more tales of her misadventures as a beginning kitchenmaid cook. I started cooking family meals myself at about age 11, and have been doing it ever since. I'm here to tell you, she must have had more than one failure that wasn't just cake! (I did wonder, if she had made the cake once and realised she put too much baking powder in the first time, why on earth did she do the same thing again?) Compared to the envious moaning about "Us" and "Them" in Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey", it's a much more pleasant read, and not just because Wadlow worked for a better class of employer; she did her best at each job, not trying to get by with the minimum and taking each difficulty as a challenge to her ingenuity.

She was right about one thing--"Downton Abbey" bears very little resemblance to the reality of service in the stately homes of the time. A servant would offer an opinion in a much more diplomatic manner if at all; they weren't paid to have an opinion and they knew it.

[☆Ruth☆]

This was an interesting little peep into a bygone era and especially poignant for me as my grandmother in her youth, was also in service for a few years, in a similar situation. I never had an opportunity to ask her about it, so this memoir gave me an idea of what her experiences may have been.

[Tanya]

A little gem and the audiobook was so entertaining. This short memoir brings us Flo Wadlow's life as a cook in service. Fans of Downton Abbey would surely enjoy this read. Flo was born in 1912 and lived until she was 100. She started her work in service at the age of 16; she went on to marry and had children. Her husband was in WWII and she was quite active in the Women's Institute and Red Cross. Her life bits were most interesting; her optimism clearly made her life all the better. Most enjoyable.

[~☆~Autumn]

I read this very fast and enjoyed it so much but toward the end I lost interest a little. I was glad that Flo lived to be 100. She was a super tough lady. She includes some receipts but like my grandmother she does not give all the measurements. I am wondering what caster sugar might be? Any idea?

[Louise Culmer]

When Flo Wadlow was sixteen she went into service as a kitchenmaid, and this is her absorbing account of her career as she worked her way up from being a kitchen maid to being a cook at Blickling Hall at the unusually early age of 23. Sensible and practical, Flo did well with all her employers, and she seemed on the whole to be happy with her chosen career. She liked most of the people she worked for, though she didn’t get to know them very well, being mostly in the kitchen. As she writes:
“You always found ,in service, or nearly always, it wasn’t the lady or gentleman who caused any trouble that there was, It was the cook or the butler who were the ‘top dogs’. They were going to be bowed down to. You had to treat them with respect.” Luckily Flo doesn’t seem to have had much trouble with the staff either. She has a zest for life which comes across clearly in this engaging memoir.

[Sayeeda]

it's a chapter a day kind of read I kept forgetting who is who and what was happening the writing was confusing to me every chapter has different people with same kind of names places I was so lost .. I enjoyed aprons and silver spoons more which is written by Flo's friend Mollie read that if you like :') #happyreading

[Katie]

I enjoyed reading this. It is a good description of the hard work that below stairs staff had to put in.

[Maria]

Very cheery!

[Shiloah]

Loved! Love her ideas for food and her inadvertent brush with fame but didn’t even know it. Short but a great read.

[Agnes]

Flo seemed like a charming lady with an interesting life- but the way the book was written let her down. It read like a dictated conversation. I never want to see an exclamation point again!

"Before then though I cycled from Hatfield to London – the traffic on the A1 wasn’t quite like it is today – to Selfridges. I put my bike by the railings in Portman Square, at the back of Selfridges, and went in. I bought myself some material to make a long dress because they were all the rage then. I got some pale lilac material and made a dress with a V-neck. It had two little frills to make the short sleeves and then a long skirt from the waist, and two frills at the bottom and a bunch of violets there. I made that to go to the Servants’ Ball, which was fantastic. We had a wonderful time."

I don't care where she parked her bike and I wonder what the servant's ball was like beyond "fantastic"-they totally bypassed the best part of that story! But I guess I actually found a paragraph sans exclamation points!

[Louise Culmer]

very interesting account of life in domestic service in the 1930s. Flo Wadlow started as a kitchen maid and worked her way up to being a cook while still only in her early 20s, an unusually early age to achieve such an eminent position. This is a short book, but full of interesting detail of domestic life in upper class households. here for instance she says:
"You always found in service, or nearly always, it wasn't the lady and gentlemen who caused any trouble there was. it was the cook or the butler who were the 'top dogs.' They were going to be bowed down to. you had to treat them with respect. I never minded that, it was all part and parcel of it. I was good at my job and they were good at theirs, and that's all that mattered."

if you enjoy this book, you will probably also enjoy the longer and more detailed 'Aprons and Silver spoons' by Mollie Moran, who was also in service in the 1930s, and was a lifelong frined of Flo Wadlow.

[Donia]

This book is not a literary masterpiece; rather it is a sweet collection of memories written somewhat in local dialect. Flo Wadlow was a real person; a sweet young woman who spent most of her life in servitude. The book is a fast read with some unique tales not often found in other books. It is simple but informative; a portrait of an era long gone; a fresh view devoid of bitterness of life spent below stairs. Though Flo did not know who the composer Richard Strauss was at the time, she recalled falling asleep in her loft one night listening to the lovely strains of his music floating up from the conservatory while he was a visitor in the estate she was working in.

[Wkwv]

A short, light memoir of the career of Mrs. Wadlow. It appears to capture her personal voice well. I was reminded that in the grander homes, the job of cooking for the staff was almost as large as preparing menus for the dining room. Mrs. Wadlow points out that the kitchen maids and housekeeping maids rarely worked together and a scullery maid might never see the grand upstairs area of the house. A fun little read for a plane ride after watching Downton or similar videos.

[Donna Boultwood]

After reading Mollie Moran's book last year, I was keen to read her friend, Flo Wadlow's account. I wasn't disappointed. What another lovely lady, and what a hard working woman she was. Such a different attitude to life back then. She plays down her jobs at Hatfield and Blickling, but she was an important lady with a huge job! I love the recipes at the back. Tempted to try out the rainbow cake!

[Shelly Boltz-Zito]

Interesting times

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time period. But when I read books like this I am glad I wasn't. It certainly brings the trials of living then. But with such heartfelt honestly and what a remarkable memory. I wish I could have meet Flo. It was a fun read and full of interesting tidbits.

[Hannah Roache]

A Very Pleasant Narrative

Flo really spoke to the reader about a time when being in service was changing. She seemed to be unflappable when it came to handling an unexpected situation.

[Mckinley]

Fun, short read about working in big lovely houses between WWI ans WWII in England. Downton Abbey for real.

[Peggy Kopman-Owens]

Flo Wadlow, a 100-year old lady of uncommon grace and good humor, devoting much of her life to the service of others, and nearly always over a hot stove. What a lovely woman and a delightful story.

[Julie]

Interesting.

[Sandra]

Easy reading. Enjoyed reading it as it showed what life and work our previous generations had. We have it easy by comparison.

[Christine]

Easy, quick read about Flo Waddow's time in service as a kitchen maid and cook as a young woman in the era predating Word War II.

[Mary Aris]

Over A Hot Stove is the story of Florence Wadlow. Florence was born on the 8th of December, 1912 at Upton Park in West Ham. She became a kitchen maid at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. Then she worked for the 4th Marquess of Suffolk before accepting a position of cook for the 11th Marquess of Lothian in Norfolk. Flo, as she was known, worked at the renowned and prestigious Women Institute.
She died at the age of 100 in 2013.

During her years as a maid, she endured many long hours of labour at a meagre salary. But she worked hard and was persistent and learned on the job. At age 16 she worked at South Kensington for a retired Army officer and his two daughters paid £20.00 a year.

In 1940 she married Robert Wadlow. He worked with the Royal Norfolk in the far east in the second world war. He was captured and became a prisoner of war in 941 and Florence didn't see him for years. The couple had a son.

This is a nice autobiography or memoir of a 1930's kitchen maid who puts to shame the programme, Upstairs Downstairs, and Downton Abbey.

Florence was unimpressed with shows like Upstairs Downstairs. She said, 'They have got it all wrong. They should have talked to people like me.' The book has recipes in the appendix.
In the '90s she appeared on the BBC4 radio show, The Upper Crust.

[Octavia Cade]

Back in the 1930s, the author spent her late teens and early twenties working as a kitchen maid and then a cook in some of the large and/or aristocratic houses of the day, and she recounts in this short memoir just what that was like. She comes across as cheerful and hardworking, and if the prose isn't terribly accomplished there is some interest in looking at the book from a food history point of view - the fumbling attempts at gingerbread, the emphasis on seasonal vegetables as they were what the estates were growing at the time, how literal ice-boxes were used to keep groceries cool. More appealing to me, however, were the aside comments that Wadlow made about her life - her disdain for kohlrabi (can't say that I blame her there), her avowal that Downton Abbey got kitchen life all wrong, her total over-it attitude with regard to scrubbing, and - most shocking to me! - the fact that her cook's uniform was a white dress. If I had to spend my days cooking and sieving meats to make fine pates and so on, and I had to do it without the benefit of electricity, washing machines, and dryers, white is the very last colour I'd be wearing! They should have let the poor girl use something else...

[Carla]

This was a very short and sweet sharing of Flo Wadlow's years in service. It was a light read, with no dirt on the many families she worked for. She was happy in her various roles and her employees usually treated her well. She worked in the kitchen, having no desire to be a maid. Down in the kitchen she was too far from the action to live vicariously through her employers so did not have stories to share. This was not really a Downton Abbey story, and the author herself even states "Downton Abbey" bears very little resemblance to the reality of service in the stately homes of the time. She also moved around a lot. After a year or so at one home, she moved on, so had lots of kitchens to work in. I would have liked a bit more depth to the story, as this just brushed the surface. Florence found enjoyment and positive opportunities in all the homes she worked in, but some other misadventures might have made this a bit more interesting for me. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Christine Rendel. I enjoyed her narration, her expression, her voice and the flow and pacing. I felt like I was sitting and listening to Flo Wadlow telling me her story. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

[Theresa]

After I read "Minding the Manor" I was excited to see that Mollie's co-worker Flo had also written a memoir of her years in service. However, although interesting and from a differing viewpoint, this book didn't engage me like "Minding the Manor" did.

Flo writes realistically and openly about her years in service to the gentry, but it isn't filled with the fun-loving stories and anecdotes that Mollie's book was. She explains what her day was like and she also talks about her friendship with Mollie but doesn't go into detail. It is still worth reading to get a sense of the times and places, the people that she worked for and their expectations. "Over a Hot Stove" moves quickly and is a fast read with short chapters.

[Christine]

This would have been much more interesting if it had flowed better. It was clearly narrated by an elderly woman because, like my 88 year old mum, she rambled from one topic to another with often no clear links between them. The narration by the interviewer helped a bit to keep things clear, but it was still very rambly. One bit made me laugh, when Flo said that Downton Abbey had got it all wrong and they should have asked people like her, when I had been thinking that it all sounded very much like Downton.
It sickened me a lot the way she seems to hold the house owners in such high esteem, and forgave all the injustices, regarding it as "they were looking after her."
Overall, a much anticipated yet disappointing read.

[Laurean]

Quite a vibrant woman

This is a charming, sweet book of an extraordinarily energetic woman in service to some of the finest houses in Britain. She tells of her experiences very diplomatically as a young kitchen maid and then a cook. I would have liked more culinary details of dinner parties including the silver, china, flowers arrangements describing the guests and fashions, but perhaps Flo didn't see much of the display upstairs, as we think today that servants and the lords and ladies mingled via Downton Abbey. She did say she rarely ever saw her employers. Interesting little read especially for people who cook.

[Laura]

I was lured to this book as my Nanni was in service (also as a cook) at around the same time. A very lovely book.
Flo is quite the character and had quite the life, even cooking for Queen Mary on one occasion (according to Flo, once was enough when it came to cooking for royalty).

Wonderful account of English history at the cusp of WW2.

Two things I very much enjoyed:
1. Flo's membership of The Women's League of Health and Beauty (Flo said she already had the health "but was working on the beauty).

2. Her appointment at Anne Boleyn's birthplace, Blickling. Though the house currently standing is Jacobean the Tudor obsessive in me greatly enjoyed it.

[Michelle]

Flo Wadlow provides a look at her life in service in England. She started as a kitchen maid at 16, and with each position change, she learned new skills and moved up the kitchen hierarchy. She describes the work that she did and the different menus that were created depending on the family and the environment. She also touches on her life after service and her marriage and family. The book also includes a selection of recipes. For those that have read Margaret Powell’s memoirs, she and Flo worked together for a time.