Boring ( )

From a vantage point of half a century, Margaret, a former kitchenmaid and cook, recalls her time below stairs, especially the shocking marriage of Rose, a lovely but empty-headed parlourmaid, to Gerald, the grown son of the house. While the author has a light touch and some of the details of life “below stairs” are entertainment, the so-called “romance” is really the tale of two people ruining each other’s lives, not so much because they come from different stations in life as because they are simply not suited to each other. Margaret’s own marriage, after some years in domestic service, isn’t given much detail and it happened much later than Rose’s; it would have been interesting to compare Margaret’s happiness in comparative poverty (stated, but not shown in detail) with Rose’s misery in comparative luxury.

I picked this up because Below Stairs was checked out. I don’t recommend doing the same. There’s nothing “wrong” with this book, but it has that sort of leftover feeling of a follow-up memoir. I’d still like to read Below Stairs as the author seems skilled enough and presumably her most interesting stories went into the first book. ( )