The must-read memoir from Rose Plummer, a maid in interwar London. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs
‘I felt like I was getting somewhere that evening. Sitting by the window sipping my tea and eating lovely iced buns, I felt I’d come such a long way from Hoxton. I had some money . . . As I sat there I realised I didn’t want to go back to my gloomy room at the top of that old house. I wanted more of a life of my own and not to be reminded every day that I wasn’t as good as other people.’
An inspirational true story loved by readers:
‘A wonderful trip down memory lane. I found the odd tear roll down my cheek . . . and there are moments of laughter throughout the book too, smiles and sighs, and even the odd grunt of disgust!’ – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW
‘What a vital record of social history this is. It is so important that witness accounts like this are recorded for posterity before those who lived them pass away and their memories are lost.’ – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW
‘I thought this was a wonderful book. It really gave an insight into what life was really like below stairs . . . not only a very good read but also a great piece of history, told by a feisty woman who lived through it.‘ – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW
—–
Born in 1910, Rose Plummer grew up in an East End slum, where she and fought an unending battle with hunger and squalor.
At the age of fifteen, Rose started work as a live-in maid, and despite the poverty of her childhood, nothing could have prepared her for the long hours, the backbreaking work and the harshness of a world in which servants were treated as if they were less than human.
But however difficult life became, Rose found something to laugh about, and her remarkable spirit and gift for friendship shines through in her memories of a now-vanished world.
‘I felt like I was getting somewhere that evening. Sitting by the window sipping my tea and eating lovely iced buns, I felt I’d come such a long way from Hoxton. I had some money . . . As I sat there I realised I didn’t want to go back to my gloomy room at the top of that old house. I wanted more of a life of my own and not to be reminded every day that I wasn’t as good as other people.’
An inspirational true story loved by readers:
‘A wonderful trip down memory lane. I found the odd tear roll down my cheek . . . and there are moments of laughter throughout the book too, smiles and sighs, and even the odd grunt of disgust!’ – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW
‘What a vital record of social history this is. It is so important that witness accounts like this are recorded for posterity before those who lived them pass away and their memories are lost.’ – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW
‘I thought this was a wonderful book. It really gave an insight into what life was really like below stairs . . . not only a very good read but also a great piece of history, told by a feisty woman who lived through it.‘ – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW
—–
Born in 1910, Rose Plummer grew up in an East End slum, where she and fought an unending battle with hunger and squalor.
At the age of fifteen, Rose started work as a live-in maid, and despite the poverty of her childhood, nothing could have prepared her for the long hours, the backbreaking work and the harshness of a world in which servants were treated as if they were less than human.
But however difficult life became, Rose found something to laugh about, and her remarkable spirit and gift for friendship shines through in her memories of a now-vanished world.
Reviews
Praise for the Lives of Servants
Reading this fascinating book is likely to unleash anyone's inner Bolshevik...!
...a fascinating portrait of the drudgery and servility of a domestic's life.
...captures the subtelties of the English class system to an extraordinary degree.
If the Brothers Grimm had ended Cinderella where she was being forced to clean the house by her stepsisters, they might have accidentally been writing Rose Plummer's biography. The maid's story makes for harsh, heartbreaking, fascinating reading.