For Downton Abbey Fans ...
Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon
Chronicles of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes and Matthew Sturgis [2012]
World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes; photography by Nick Briggs [2011]
To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
Below stairs; the classic maid’s memoir that inspired ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’; and Downton A. by Margaret Powell [originally published in 1968; reissued in 2012]
American Jennie; the Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill by Anne Sebba
One of the more well known American - British alliances was that of New Yorker Jennie Jerome and Randolph Churchill, the 2nd son of the Duke of Marlborough, in 1873. Their son was the noted Winston Churchill.
Upstairs & Downstairs; an illustrated guide to the real world of Downton Abbey by Sarah Warwick
Habits of the House by Fay Weldon
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton (1862-1937)
This novel was unfinished when Edith Wharton died; it was published the following year as she had written it. In 1993, Marion Mainwaring, using Wharton’s notes, completed the novel. In the 1870’s the wealthy and beautiful St. George sisters find it hard to break into New York society. They set their sights on England instead and travel there with the goal of marrying into the aristocracy, thus ‘The Buccaneers’ are the bold American daughters of rich fathers. It was also a BBC / Masterpiece Theater mini-series.
Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon
Highclere Castle is indeed where Downton Abbey is filmed, and Almina, although the illegitimate daughter of Alfred de Rothschild, brought a fortune to her marriage, but unlike Lady Cora she was not an American. She grew up in France and England and in 1895, at the age of 19, she married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon on this twenty-ninth birthday.
Chronicles of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes and Matthew Sturgis [2012]
An official behind-the-scenes reference for the six-time Emmy Award-winning series' third season provides individual character profiles and the inspirations behind them while placing key storylines in a historical context.
World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes; photography by Nick Briggs [2011]
On the eve of Season 2 of the TV presentation, this gorgeous book--illustrated with sketches and research from the production team, as well as on-set photographs from both seasons--takes us even deeper into that world, with fresh insights into the story and characters as well as the social history.
To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
This is what I call a ‘hodge-podge’ book -- short bits of information with many illustrations and photographs; a fun book to browse rather than read straight through. From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles
Below stairs; the classic maid’s memoir that inspired ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’; and Downton A. by Margaret Powell [originally published in 1968; reissued in 2012]
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 died in 1984. The second volume, Servants’ Hall, was originally published in 1979 and reissued in 2013. Margaret Powell’s Cookery Book; 500 ‘Upstairs’ Recipes from Everyone’s Favorite ‘Downstairs’ Kitchen Maid and Cook was published in 1970 and reissued in 2012.
American Jennie; the Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill by Anne Sebba
One of the more well known American - British alliances was that of New Yorker Jennie Jerome and Randolph Churchill, the 2nd son of the Duke of Marlborough, in 1873. Their son was the noted Winston Churchill.
Upstairs & Downstairs; an illustrated guide to the real world of Downton Abbey by Sarah Warwick
A tour of a day in an Edwardian-era manor begins with the work of servants and culminates in a dinner party, in a text containing accounts from masters and servants and profiles of such individuals as Winston Churchill and Virginia Woolf.
Habits of the House by Fay Weldon
As the writer of the pilot episode of the original Upstairs, Downstairs—Fay Weldon brings a deserved reputation for magnificent storytelling. With wit and sympathy—and no small measure of mischief—Habits of the House plots the interplay of restraint and desire, manners and morals, reason and instinct. First of a trilogy. I’ve often found that Fay Weldon’s books take off in surprising directions, and are all the more entertaining for it.
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton (1862-1937)
This novel was unfinished when Edith Wharton died; it was published the following year as she had written it. In 1993, Marion Mainwaring, using Wharton’s notes, completed the novel. In the 1870’s the wealthy and beautiful St. George sisters find it hard to break into New York society. They set their sights on England instead and travel there with the goal of marrying into the aristocracy, thus ‘The Buccaneers’ are the bold American daughters of rich fathers. It was also a BBC / Masterpiece Theater mini-series.
