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Climbing the Stairs

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Climbing the Stairs

From kitchen maid to cook; the heartwarming memoir of a life in service
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Description

Working below stairs in 1920s London, sixteen-year-old Margaret's mind turns to finding a man. But it's hard to look beguiling when you're elbow deep in dishwater... From the grand houses of Brighton to imposing London mansions, life as a kitchen maid could be exhausting and demoralising. It's not just being at the beck and call of the people upstairs, when even the children of the family can treat you like dirt, but having to deal with temperamental cooks, starchy butlers and chauffeurs with a roving eye. Marriage is the only escape, but with one evening off a week Margaret has no time to lose. Between Perce the bus conductor (who brings his mother on dates) and Mr Hailsham the fishmonger (who looks - and smells - a bit like his wares), her initial prospects are hardly the stuff of dreams. But then she meets Albert; a butcher boy-turned-milkman. Could he be the perfect husband? And can she make the perfect wife when, as she soon discovers, years spent serving others don't prepare you for managing your own life? Soon Margaret begins to wonder - how can someone like her ever improve their station? Told with her trademark wit and warmth, Climbing the Stairs is a unique, sharp-eyed tale of a time when the idea of masters and servants began to lose its sway, and of a remarkable woman who grasped the opportunities of this brave new world with both hands.

Author Biography:

Margaret Powell was born in 1907 in Hove, and left school at the age of 13 to start working. At 14, she got a job in a hotel laundry room, and a year later went into service as a kitchen maid, eventually progressing to the position of cook, before marrying a milkman called Albert. In 1968 the first volume of her memoirs, Below Stairs, was published to instant success and turned her into a celebrity. She followed this up with Climbing the Stairs, The Treasure Upstairs and The Margaret Powell Cookery Book. She died in 1984.
Release date NZ
October 7th, 2011
Audience
  • General (US: Trade)
Edition
Unabridged edition
Interest Age
From 18 years
Pages
208
Dimensions
130x197x13
ISBN-13
9781447201960
Product ID
10835377

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