Below Stairs by Margaret Powell

Below stairs: the classic kitchen maid's memoir that inspired "Upstairs, downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"/ Margaret Powell. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2012.  Originally published: London: Davies, 1968.

ISBN 978-1-250-00544-1

212 pages.

If you gobble up BBC and PBS period drama, you’ll enjoy this memoir. Margaret Powell became a kitchen maid in the 1920s when she was 15 years old.  Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, was inspired by her and wrote Downton Abbey.

Powell’s memoir feels like easy conversation between friends over tea.  She holds little back detailing “jolly hard work" and disparities between “us” (staff like her, downstairs) and “them” (her wealthy employer, the family upstairs).  Considering her bare-bones existence and grueling work, she continuously moves forward through life with determination.

Why it's worth your time..

1. If you're looking for a peek into history, it satisfies.  The day-to-day life of a kitchen maid like Downton Abbey's Daisy, is eye-opening. Crazy hard work. In her position, one could aspire to become a cook because with more sit-down time, days off, better pay, and bonuses {including sneaking wine} it was the best job.  And, if you married in service, there you’d be forever.  {But doesn’t Downton's pairing of Anna and Bates seem romantic?}

2.  Powell's ability to probe the reader's mind is powerful. Her time period is foreign to us, but her understanding of the human condition leaves an imprint on today’s reader.  She reveals her thoughts on everything and introspection on how her station, choices, and personality have come together to make a life.  Midway through the book, my questions moved from a history focus…

What were the duties of a kitchen maid?  What did the daily routine look like? And so on…

to Powell's questions...How much of who I am is based on societal roles? My sense of self? And so on.

This memoir serves up the delicious factual stuff that make up the nuts and bolts of the upstairs/downstairs life.  It is also a gentle reminder that history is personal and can guide us.