Servants' Hall: A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs Romance (Below Stairs Book 2)

Publishers WeeklyRiding on the coattails of Masterpiece Theatre's hit series Downton Abbey comes this slight but pleasant recounting of domestic service in 1920's England. Powell (Below Stairs), who died in 1984, lures the reader in with her first-hand account of an unlikely romance at the Wardham residence. Rose, a comely parlourmaid with "lovely creamy skin" and "golden hair," catches the eye of the son of the house, Gerald, who is newly returned from Rhodesia. They elope and much discord ensues. While the Rose-Gerald plot is perhaps the book's most salacious one, the bulk of the narrative describes Powell's own life: her promotion from kitchen maid to cook (redcurrant jelly proves to be a particularly trying obstacle) and her relentless hunt for a husband.