Cocoa at Midnight
The Housekeeper's Tale - the remarkable true story of life below stairs from Princess Diana's family housekeeper
$57.50
- Paperback
272 pages
- Release Date
13 May 2013
Summary
Kathleen Clifford was born in 1909. Her family lived in a tiny flat near Paddington Station and her earliest memories were of the smell of horses and the shrill whistle of steam trains.
For a girl from the slums there was really only one option once school was over - a life in service. She started work in 1925 as a lowly kitchen maid in the London home of Lady Diana Spencer’s family. Here she heard tales of the Earl’s propensity for setting fire to himself, as well as enjoying the ser…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781444735956 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1444735950 |
| Author: | Tom Quinn |
| Publisher: | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Imprint: | Hodder Paperback |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 272 |
| Release Date: | 13 May 2013 |
| Weight: | 196g |
| Dimensions: | 198mm x 129mm x 17mm |
| Series: | True Stories of Life Below Stairs |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
Reading this fascinating book is likely to unleash anyone’s inner Bolshevik…!– Daily Mail
Praise for the Lives of Servants - Various
Reading this fascinating book is likely to unleash anyone’s inner Bolshevik…! - Daily Mail…a fascinating portrait of the drudgery and servility of a domestic’s life. - The Age…captures the subtelties of the English class system to an extraordinary degree. - Midstate ObserverIf 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. - The Daily Telegraph, NZAbout The Author
Tom Quinn
Kathleen Clifford was born in a West London slum in 1909. Her family lived from hand to mouth in rented rooms near Paddington Station. At school she dreamed of working in Whiteleys, a glamorous department store, but instead she worked in service. After she retired from service Kathleen returned to Paddington - and got that job in Whiteleys! Kathleen Clifford died in 1989.
Tom Quinn is the editor of the Country Landowner’s Magazine. He has written several small books for small independent publishers. He has spent the last twenty years interviewing people who worked in domestic service, getting them to tell him their life stories.
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