Carol McD. Wallace

It's well documented that this was the book that inspired Downton Abbey. So, what can I say? If you like digging into the real life history behind the entertainment you'll probably enjoy this book.

It explains why Anglo-American marriages were such a trend at the turn of the 20th century. It has to do with the Prince of Wales, the impoverished state of many British nobles, the perceived value of social status for the nouveaux riche, the snobbery of New York, and the cultural freshness of Americans.

While occasionally I noticed the book making some sweeping generalizations/stereotypes, and it was chronologically quite jumpy, overall it was interesting. Lots of photographs.… (meer)

Ok, this is a book full of really interesting information, but I can only assume that it is extremely odd in format -- either a chapter or a heading after every few paragraphs. And by assume, I mean that I had the misfortune to listen to the audio book version of it -- if you think the text was choppy in print, imagine a crisp, rarely expressive voice reading it with all seriousness. Its confusing, and just when she gets a rhythm going, she has to swap to another anecdote. When she started reading a table listing the names of American fathers and their titled daughters, I had to walk away. Who thought this would be a plausible audio book? Anyway. The content seems good, the reader is very clear, the delivery of all of it was a terrible idea.… (meer)

Picked this up because it is reportedly the inspiration behind Downton Abbey.

From an historical perspective, it was interesting to read how the American rich went about buying European titles for their daughters. But none of the recounted stories went particularly deep into anything other than the societal “warfare” and strategies for winning.

From a modern perspective ... ick. It felt more like breeding dogs or race horses. I’m not sure who most resembled prostitutes: the mothers and daughters marketing themselves for a title or the English lords trading their titles for money to maintain their lifestyles. I have to wonder if the English system of nobility wouldn’t have collapsed a century ago but for the infusion of cash and fresh blood the heiresses brought into the mix.

All in all, it leaves me glad to be living in the times and economic status I do; and makes me feel rather sorry for “the ruling class” that lived to see their empire begin to fall apart.

Most of my sympathy is reserved for the American industrialists who got to see their hard-earned wealth blown through by extravagantly spending wives, over-indulged daughters, and essentially useless sons-in-law.… (meer)