Afbeelding auteur

Adeline Hartcup (1918–2010)

Auteur van Children of the Great Country Houses

5+ Werken 31 Leden 1 Geef een beoordeling

Werken van Adeline Hartcup

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Tagged

Algemene kennis

Pseudoniemen en naamsvarianten
Adeline Augusta E Levinson
Geboortedatum
1918-06-00
Overlijdensdatum
2010-11-18
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
UK
Geboorteplaats
Isle of Wight, England, UK
Woonplaatsen
London, England, UK

Leden

Besprekingen

There have been better , more substantial studies of English country houses in general and some of these houses in particular . There have been monographs on the great families who created and sustained these great homes through several (Hatfield, Chatsworth or Woburn ). If you are an enthusiastic summer visitor to Country estates and houses , the guidebooks are good value for money and give plenty of detail on life in the house of note. The focus in this book is on the servants and staff , often vast establishments of people required to run these enterprises in their hey day before labour saving devices and modern appliances and before alternative opportunities and improved education made it possible for women to choose not to go into domestic service and not to work for the great house. It was a time when lives were blighted by limited local opportunities for men and women. Mobility was limited physically and intellectually. This is a social history written from below the stairs as the title indicates, and written with a light touch. There is a tendency to romanticise and to give a nostalgic gloss to the past . Although the author did research the archives and muniment rooms of the great estates , there are no footnotes or detailed references . This is not a serious or in depth history . The focus is on the 19th century and the style of writing is descriptive . The book lacks critical analytical rigour and fails to explore the economic underpinnings of these micro economies . On the other hand, there's a lot of graphic detail , for example, the order of liveries at Hatfield and Lady Salisbury's footman . The wages of the servants at Petworth in 1872 are listed and a couple of paragraphs informs on the housekeeper's cash book in 1860. The seven houses covered are Holkham Hall , Hatfiekd House, Petworth House, Wilton House , Woburn Abbey , Attingham House and Chatsworth, but there is no explanation as to why these particular estates or houses were chosen. The author refers to the research for the book as being "a long and exhilarating treasure hunt" but it is not quite so exhilirating for the reader . My assessment is that the writing was shaped by the snippets of interesting information found . This may be no bad thing . There is a good eye here for the detail but the material is rather unprocessed . The epilogue re country house life in 1980 comes in as a single page of vapid chatter. 'There is an odd selection of photographs, some are unusual, but a pity there are no photos of the actual houses, instead of the amateurish sketches. In summary the book is about a way of life offering a degree of security but also plenty of drudgery and an acceptance of the English class hierarchy. It's a life style that has disappeared in 21st century Britain, perhaps the very wealthiest in society do employ servants, housekeepers and butlers but it's on a more professional basis . This book was published in 1980 and has been overtaken by more serious social history . I'd award this book two and a half stars .. Yes it will retain its place in my library but be hardly valued.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Africansky1 | May 11, 2013 |

Statistieken

Werken
5
Ook door
2
Leden
31
Populariteit
#440,253
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
1
ISBNs
6