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

by Margaret Powell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 402
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The sequel to New York Times bestseller Below Stairs, Servants' Hall tells a gripping real-life tale reminiscent of Downton Abbey's Lady Sybil and Tom Branson and makes a perfect gift book for fans of the popular series and film.

Margaret Powell's Below Stairs became a sensation among readers reveling in the luxury and subtle class warfare of Masterpiece Theatre's hit television series Downton Abbey. Now in the sequel Servants' Hall, Powell tells the true story of Rose, the under-parlourmaid to the Wardham Family at Redlands, who took a shocking step: She eloped with the family's only son, Mr. Gerald.

Going from rags to riches, Rose finds herself caught up in a maelstrom of gossip, incredulity and envy among her fellow servants. The reaction from upstairs was no better: Mr. Wardham, the master of the house, disdained the match so completely that he refused ever to have contact with the young couple again. Gerald and Rose marry and leave Redlands, and Powell looks on with envy, even as the marriage hits on bumpy times: "To us in the servants' hall, it was just like a fairy tale . . . How I wished I was in her shoes."

Once again bringing that lost world to life, Margaret Powell trains her pen and her gimlet eye on her "betters" in this next chapter from a life spent in service. Servants' Hall is Margaret Powell at her best—a warm, funny and sometimes hilarious memoir of life at a time when wealthy families like ruled England.

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  1. Book 2 of 2
    Below Stairs
  2. Print length
    191 pages
  3. Language
    English
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    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    St. Martin's Press
  6. Publication date
    January 15, 2013
  7. File size
    357 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An insightful peek into a time long gone, told with skill, humor and wit.” ―Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

MARGARET POWELL was born in 1907 in Hove, and left school at the age of thirteen to start working. At fourteen, 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 died in 1984.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008RLPZ0O
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition (January 15, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 357 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 191 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 402

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Margaret Powell

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
402 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Actingtheatrecat
5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE IT!
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2013
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Margaret Powell has such a witty way with words that each of her books are a joy to read. She gives a lot of detail in her accounts of the other servants and her employers and really does give you good insight into what a working day (and working world) was like in the "good old days." I took the suggestion from another reader and purchased her third book The Treasure Upstairs through Amazon in the UK so I could find out more about her life after she left service. She is a candid and funny writer and addresses every day issues; pre-marital sex and having babies with a candor that is amazing in someone you would think of as from the Victorian era. I highly recommend all three of her books and you will find that they read very quickly and you're done way too soon! If you are a fan of Upstairs, Downstairs or, in my case, Downton Abbey, you can definitely see the influence she had on these series. Read them, you definitely will NOT regret it!
23 people found this helpful
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J. Lopate
4.0 out of 5 stars Insider's Point of View On Working For The Upper Class In England
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013
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I have always enjoyed visiting historic manor homes when on vacation in England and other places and at the same time, could not help but wonder what it might have been like to have been "in service" to one of the families who owned such a home.

This book answered my questions and provided me with a somewhat gossipy and delicious account from an insider who was there. The book goes into interesting details, describing the hierarchy of servants in a manor house, the bickering and backstabbing that made up a part of that, but also the closeness that developed within the team of servants. Sniping, quirks, "rich man marries servant girl" are all a part of this book. It was well-written and describes the truth. There is resentment by some of class differences and the wide disparities in the lifestyles of the monied and the less fortunate (financially). This book does repeat the theme in an old kernal of wisdom...."Money does not buy happiness." It seems to me that some of the servants were happier than their masters, despite having less material things, and it also seems that people of good character do not depend on money to make them that way. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an inquiring mind and wants to know who is really the master and commander of the vast estates you see on tours of old homes of the rich.
3 people found this helpful
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Chilly
5.0 out of 5 stars Servants and Slaves
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2014
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Margaret Powell's Servants' Hall: A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs is a fascinating narration of life as a member of the British servant class, which was the lot of many if not most Brits throughout the 18th and 19th centuries--and into the 20th. One of the most amazing aspects of the book is how closely it parallels American slave narratives. The experience of 'otherness'--as manifested in servants' vernacular dialects, illiteracy, social invisibility, oppressive labor, and economic exploitation--is articulated in very similar fashion to that of black Americans as slaves and servants, though the British were nominally 'free.' Mrs. Powell's easy, accessible writing style, her sense of humor, incisive social critique, and the many enlivening anecdotes throughout the text contribute to the interest and merit of her book. I am now reading her follow-up autobiography, one that focuses heavily on the tragic failure of an inter-class marriage, with equal interest and appreciation.
3 people found this helpful
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R. Fisher
3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been added to the first short book and made into a very good, longer read
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2015
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Not nearly as fascinating as Below Stairs (the first book). Kind of rehashes a lot of what happened in the first book. Could have been added to the first short book and made into a very good, longer read.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting personal social history
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017
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The author began service as a kitchen maid at the age of 15 in 1922, and lying about her age, became a cook at the young age of 19ish. She worked in a variety of houses, one large country house, establishments owned by prosperous manufacturers, with about 10 staff, and a few struggling households with only 4 staff. So she experienced a large variety of experiences typical for service in that era. Although she couldn't take advantage of a scholarship, having to leave school at the age of 13 to help her parents, she managed to obtain an education. She seems to have experienced roughly 50/50 considerate versus appalling employers. There were so many changes in Britain during this period, and her books offer a personal perspective on this. This book will appeal to anyone interested in this historical period from the point of view of an intelligent, down to earth, and articulate servant.
2 people found this helpful
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Marian
5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, funny, blunt
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2013
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Anyone who romanticizes the "upstairs, downstairs" life should take a look at Margaret Powell's memories of how things really were. More distance lay between masters and servants than could be measured by a flight of stairs, and when a master let his eyes stray to a pretty servant, no good could come of it. Still, there was fun to be had, and servants, hard-worked and often poorly treated, managed to find it, and find their own romance as well.
One person found this helpful
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irish_iiis
5.0 out of 5 stars A glimpse into the past
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2013
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My Grandmother and many great aunts worked as servants in the US after coming from Ireland. As a child, I can remember staying at the summer home in Keene NH where the head maid and chauffer were a great aunt and uncle and had their own cottage. This brought me back to seeing all the maids shining silver and gossiping. Now I get a glimpse of their as an adult.
This also reminds me of Downton Abbey, which I enjoy.
3 people found this helpful
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SoCal Sheila
4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as charming as "Below Stairs" but still very enjoyable!
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2013
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I really like Margaret Powell's style of writing and her books offer great insight into the world of servants in the early 1900's. This book covers some of the material as Climbing the Stairs, but provides more detail about the characters. I have also read Below Stairs which is also very entertaining. I am a big fan of Downton Abbey, which is what got me started on Margaret Powell's books. Her books are easy reads that you can easily pick back up again. I enjoy reading them over again.
2 people found this helpful
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carol
5.0 out of 5 stars book review
Reviewed in Canada on October 9, 2016
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Very good book, not as interesting as the first but still worth reading!
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Bazz
5.0 out of 5 stars Tells life as it really was.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2013
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As a fan of Downton Abbey , I had to know more about servants.
It is amazing how not so long ago this was the way of life for many.
People really did believe that this was their :"Station in LIfe" and to try to rise about it
was wrong.
hard work but happy days for some. Butlers could be the most dreadful snobs even
about their previous employers and this part of social history is fascinating.
could not put it down, she writes so well and from experience with humor too.
3 people found this helpful
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secotine
5.0 out of 5 stars Servant's hall
Reviewed in France on February 15, 2013
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cela m'a fortement rappelé Up stairs Down Stairs,
en allait-il de même dans nos "grandes familles"?
jen'ai pas plus de mots à rajouter
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Sanchia
4.0 out of 5 stars A true view of domestic service.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2019
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Margaret once again provides the true state of a servants life, if you have read her previous books you will find some of her incidents repeated here, but still giving much food for thought.
One person found this helpful
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Pen R
4.0 out of 5 stars Servants Hall : Margaret Powell
Reviewed in Canada on March 12, 2014
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I have been reading her books since last year and have enjoyed them all so far. I have about 3 more to read. I don't normally read everything an author has written,the public library hardly had any of her books.. But thanks to Amazon have been able to get most of them !!!
Servant's hall was O.K. but not one of her best books, but her descriptive writing is excellent, she tell's it like it is !!! She also has a great sense of humour..
4 people found this helpful
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