In 1928, Rosina Harrison arrived at the illustrious household of the Astor family to take up her new position as personal maid to the infamously temperamental Lady Nancy Astor, who sat in Parliament, entertained royalty, and traveled the world. "She's not a lady as you would understand a lady" was the butler's ominous warning. But what no one expected was that the iron-willed Lady Astor was about to meet her match in the no-nonsense, whip-smart girl from the country.
For 35 years, from the parties thrown for royalty and trips across the globe, to the air raids during WWII, Rose was by Lady Astor's side and behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly. In charge of everything from the clothes and furs to the baggage to the priceless diamond "sparklers," Rose was closer to Lady Astor than anyone else. In her decades of service she received one £5 raise, but she traveled the world in style and retired with a lifetime's worth of stories. Like Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, ROSE is a captivating insight into the great wealth 'upstairs' and the endless work 'downstairs', but it is also the story of an unlikely decades-long friendship that grew between Her Ladyship and her spirited Yorkshire maid.
Rose
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Review
"An extraordinary document, realistic, candid, and a rare look from the vantage point below stairs at a nostalgically romanticized world."
(Los Angeles Times) “A delectable assortment of tales and details about the habits of overprivileged Britishers and the people who served them…. Rosina is a feisty, keen-eyed, no-nonsense observer of caste, class, and character. And when she matches wills and wits with Lady Astor—a Virginia Belle by birth, a Member of Parliament, and mistress of a dazzling fortune, and of Cliveden, one of England’s most stately homes—the result is not only a crackling comedy of manners, but a sense of the way it was, firsthand.”
(Newsweek)"Lady Astor's personal maid reveals her 'upstairs, downstairs' relationships with England's grandest family...Fascinating and deliciously readable!"
(The New York Times Book Review)
About the Author
Rosina Harrison (1899-1989) served as Lady Nancy Astor's personal maid for over thirty-five years and was the author of two books.
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156 of 158 people found the following review helpful
By Jill
Format:Paperback
This book, under a slightly different title, is a reissue of Rosina Harrison's 1976 memoir, Rose: My Life in Service Recollections of Life in One of England's Grandest Households. This is a repeat of my review for it:
Rose Harrison's memoir might be of interest to fans of Downton Abbey, even though her experiences occurred a generation later. Rose's longtime employer, Nancy, Lady Astor, was, like Downton's fictional Cora, an American heiress who married into the British aristocracy. Rose, who served as Lady Astor's personal maid for 35 years, was a Yorkshire girl, born in a village near the town of Ripon.
While much is left unsaid, Rose gives plenty of fascinating details of the daily working life of a lady's maid in pre-war, wartime, and postwar Britain. In the first chapters she describes her childhood, education and home life and motivation for her decision to go into service - service as a ladies maid in particular, and why, with that as a goal, it was not a good idea to start out as a housemaid or kitchenmaid. She started out as a "young ladies' maid" - serving the daughter(s) of a household in 1918, then moved up (in both status and pay) to ladies' maid. Her motivations for changing employers and how it was accomplished are also discussed (her account of taking leave of her second mistress, after 5 years, is stunning). She entered service to the Astor's in 1928 and retired with a pension in 1964, on Lady Astor's death.
She describes her duties in detail for all three employers (two prior to Lady Astor). Though Rose worked upstairs, she had duties that took her below stairs, and she ate her meals there. She describes the inner-workings of the servant's halls, both at home and at other homes they visited (Particularly interesting is the description, though brief, of what it was like when most of the fighting-age male servants were away during WWI). She also gives an account of her (mostly non-existent) social life. As Rose notes, her picture of domestic service is typical as far as how servants lived and the way houses were run, and that "only the personalities and small details were different." She doesn't say a lot about class divisions, but the subject does crop up.
If life at Cliveden, the Astor's country estate, their homes in London, and their handful of other residences, changed after WWI, it isn't apparent from the memoir. Rose had the responsibility of caring for Lady Astor's clothes (fashions are naturally well-described), her furs, and her jewelry collection, an awesome responsibility. She also covers fascinating details about things I had never even thought of, such as, does a maid see her lady in the bath? There's a lengthy section on houseparties and what it was like, for all the staff, preparing for them (especially Ascot). She worked with the Astor's famous butler Mr. Lee, and their almost-as-famous under butler Charles Dean, and frequently turns the story-telling reins over to them, by recounting stories they told Rose of service in those prewar days. She describes some of the duties of Mr. Lee, as well as 2nd footman Gordon Grimmett, and other male staff: "odd-men," "linkmen (who called for the carriages/cars at parties), and decorators (the gardener who had charge of the flowers inside the house). She also discusses the human machine that was the chef and kitchen staff. She is fairly mum about leisure time (such as it was) below stairs but does describe the servants' Christmas fancy dress dances at Cliveden (attended by the family, as was typical), the huge Christmas tree in the hall, and presents for all the staff.
As Rose notes, the book is no Astor tell-all, which is not a bad thing. I wish at times though that she would give more detail about her own personal life, such as her 9-year engagement, and her sister Olive going into service as a housemaid, which is referred to a couple of times but no other information. A chapter called "Coming to Terms with my Job" is interesting as it's the closest we get to what Rose's feelings and emotions were about working for the often `difficult' Lady Astor, and describes what it was like in unflattering detail. She describes her relationship with each of her ladies, but of course Lady Astor in greater detail than the others since they were together, every day, for 35 years. There is a chapter about other members of the Astor family, particularly the children, seen through the eyes of their longtime nanny; a chapter on life during WWII; a chapter on travel (which is also referred to throughout the book), and "Last Years," describing life in service after WWII, Lady Astor's retirement from public life, her declining years and death.
Though Lady Astor was a controversial figure in later years, Rose tells the story from her perspective, not as a political or social commentator. But I wouldn't call it a whitewash either; while Rose clearly became fond of her lady, her description of Lady Astor for the most part could hardly be called flattering. I consider the book a must-have because I'm very interested in the subject of ladies' maids and there are very few published accounts of, or by any; Rose's memoir is the only one I'm aware of. Fortunately she is an engaging and funny storyteller.
Rose Harrison's memoir might be of interest to fans of Downton Abbey, even though her experiences occurred a generation later. Rose's longtime employer, Nancy, Lady Astor, was, like Downton's fictional Cora, an American heiress who married into the British aristocracy. Rose, who served as Lady Astor's personal maid for 35 years, was a Yorkshire girl, born in a village near the town of Ripon.
While much is left unsaid, Rose gives plenty of fascinating details of the daily working life of a lady's maid in pre-war, wartime, and postwar Britain. In the first chapters she describes her childhood, education and home life and motivation for her decision to go into service - service as a ladies maid in particular, and why, with that as a goal, it was not a good idea to start out as a housemaid or kitchenmaid. She started out as a "young ladies' maid" - serving the daughter(s) of a household in 1918, then moved up (in both status and pay) to ladies' maid. Her motivations for changing employers and how it was accomplished are also discussed (her account of taking leave of her second mistress, after 5 years, is stunning). She entered service to the Astor's in 1928 and retired with a pension in 1964, on Lady Astor's death.
She describes her duties in detail for all three employers (two prior to Lady Astor). Though Rose worked upstairs, she had duties that took her below stairs, and she ate her meals there. She describes the inner-workings of the servant's halls, both at home and at other homes they visited (Particularly interesting is the description, though brief, of what it was like when most of the fighting-age male servants were away during WWI). She also gives an account of her (mostly non-existent) social life. As Rose notes, her picture of domestic service is typical as far as how servants lived and the way houses were run, and that "only the personalities and small details were different." She doesn't say a lot about class divisions, but the subject does crop up.
If life at Cliveden, the Astor's country estate, their homes in London, and their handful of other residences, changed after WWI, it isn't apparent from the memoir. Rose had the responsibility of caring for Lady Astor's clothes (fashions are naturally well-described), her furs, and her jewelry collection, an awesome responsibility. She also covers fascinating details about things I had never even thought of, such as, does a maid see her lady in the bath? There's a lengthy section on houseparties and what it was like, for all the staff, preparing for them (especially Ascot). She worked with the Astor's famous butler Mr. Lee, and their almost-as-famous under butler Charles Dean, and frequently turns the story-telling reins over to them, by recounting stories they told Rose of service in those prewar days. She describes some of the duties of Mr. Lee, as well as 2nd footman Gordon Grimmett, and other male staff: "odd-men," "linkmen (who called for the carriages/cars at parties), and decorators (the gardener who had charge of the flowers inside the house). She also discusses the human machine that was the chef and kitchen staff. She is fairly mum about leisure time (such as it was) below stairs but does describe the servants' Christmas fancy dress dances at Cliveden (attended by the family, as was typical), the huge Christmas tree in the hall, and presents for all the staff.
As Rose notes, the book is no Astor tell-all, which is not a bad thing. I wish at times though that she would give more detail about her own personal life, such as her 9-year engagement, and her sister Olive going into service as a housemaid, which is referred to a couple of times but no other information. A chapter called "Coming to Terms with my Job" is interesting as it's the closest we get to what Rose's feelings and emotions were about working for the often `difficult' Lady Astor, and describes what it was like in unflattering detail. She describes her relationship with each of her ladies, but of course Lady Astor in greater detail than the others since they were together, every day, for 35 years. There is a chapter about other members of the Astor family, particularly the children, seen through the eyes of their longtime nanny; a chapter on life during WWII; a chapter on travel (which is also referred to throughout the book), and "Last Years," describing life in service after WWII, Lady Astor's retirement from public life, her declining years and death.
Though Lady Astor was a controversial figure in later years, Rose tells the story from her perspective, not as a political or social commentator. But I wouldn't call it a whitewash either; while Rose clearly became fond of her lady, her description of Lady Astor for the most part could hardly be called flattering. I consider the book a must-have because I'm very interested in the subject of ladies' maids and there are very few published accounts of, or by any; Rose's memoir is the only one I'm aware of. Fortunately she is an engaging and funny storyteller.
61 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Publisher's synopsis:
In 1928, Rosina Harrison arrived at the illustrious household of the Astor family to take up her new position as personal maid to the infamously temperamental Lady Nancy Astor, who sat in Parliament, entertained royalty, and traveled the world. "She's not a lady as you would understand a lady" was the butler's ominous warning. But what no one expected was that the iron-willed Lady Astor was about to meet her match in the no-nonsense, whip-smart girl from the country.
For 35 years, from the parties thrown for royalty and trips across the globe, to the air raids during WWII, Rose was by Lady Astor's side and behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly. In charge of everything from the clothes and furs to the baggage to the priceless diamond "sparklers," Rose was closer to Lady Astor than anyone else. In her decades of service she received one Ł5 raise, but she traveled the world in style and retired with a lifetime's worth of stories. Like Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, ROSE is a captivating insight into the great wealth 'upstairs' and the endless work 'downstairs', but it is also the story of an unlikely decades-long friendship that grew between Her Ladyship and her spirited Yorkshire maid.
My thoughts:
Rosina Harrison's 1976 memoir was re-issued in December of 2011, right in the middle of the frenzy surrounding our fascination with the BBC's mega-hit series Downton Abbey! Being a fan not only of Downton Abbey, but also Gosford Park and Remains of the Day, I wasted no time in requesting this e-galley through NetGalley!
I was prepared to like this book and the author did not let me down! I did keep reminding myself that Ms. Harrison published her memoirs thirty six years ago, she wrote of experiences and memories dating back over ninety years ago. I add that, because I consider this to be a bit of a time warp-ish education in the way people spoke and in the way things really were back then. A couple of words threw me a bit and I found myself on the search engines, learning new "old" terms. What I also was amazed at was the real physicality of house work done back then. And I gripe about having to rinse the dishes before I load the dishwasher. The kitchen staff scrubbed with products that made their hands bleed. Being a fan of period British books and movies, I was still astounded by how many people those big estates employed! The series 1900 House, a few years ago, illustrated just how far we've come!
Rose tells things the way they were, in her own words, she doesn't "white wash" Lady Astor or her life with any of her other employers. Rose had a clear and precise picture of people as they were. As she was in service as a lady's maid, she saw the good, the bad and the ugly. I thought Rose was a great observer, and people who are great observers, in my opinion, are excellent writers. They don't embellish. They report. And that's what Harrison did. She reported in great detail, always being careful to respect her employers, their guests and the people she worked along side.
I really enjoyed this book, it's a slice of a life lived a long time ago. It's well written, entertaining and it kept my interest. Almost too much, I never wanted to put it down. Harrison's My Life In Service to Lady Astor, thirty six years later, is still worth a read, it's the story of a life well told and well structured. It's a look into a time gone by, and shouldn't be missed. What a great lesson in life and history!
I really recommend My Life In Service to Lady Astor! Brava Rose Harrison!
** This book was provided to me by the publishers through NetGalley, and in no way affected my review.
In 1928, Rosina Harrison arrived at the illustrious household of the Astor family to take up her new position as personal maid to the infamously temperamental Lady Nancy Astor, who sat in Parliament, entertained royalty, and traveled the world. "She's not a lady as you would understand a lady" was the butler's ominous warning. But what no one expected was that the iron-willed Lady Astor was about to meet her match in the no-nonsense, whip-smart girl from the country.
For 35 years, from the parties thrown for royalty and trips across the globe, to the air raids during WWII, Rose was by Lady Astor's side and behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly. In charge of everything from the clothes and furs to the baggage to the priceless diamond "sparklers," Rose was closer to Lady Astor than anyone else. In her decades of service she received one Ł5 raise, but she traveled the world in style and retired with a lifetime's worth of stories. Like Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, ROSE is a captivating insight into the great wealth 'upstairs' and the endless work 'downstairs', but it is also the story of an unlikely decades-long friendship that grew between Her Ladyship and her spirited Yorkshire maid.
My thoughts:
Rosina Harrison's 1976 memoir was re-issued in December of 2011, right in the middle of the frenzy surrounding our fascination with the BBC's mega-hit series Downton Abbey! Being a fan not only of Downton Abbey, but also Gosford Park and Remains of the Day, I wasted no time in requesting this e-galley through NetGalley!
I was prepared to like this book and the author did not let me down! I did keep reminding myself that Ms. Harrison published her memoirs thirty six years ago, she wrote of experiences and memories dating back over ninety years ago. I add that, because I consider this to be a bit of a time warp-ish education in the way people spoke and in the way things really were back then. A couple of words threw me a bit and I found myself on the search engines, learning new "old" terms. What I also was amazed at was the real physicality of house work done back then. And I gripe about having to rinse the dishes before I load the dishwasher. The kitchen staff scrubbed with products that made their hands bleed. Being a fan of period British books and movies, I was still astounded by how many people those big estates employed! The series 1900 House, a few years ago, illustrated just how far we've come!
Rose tells things the way they were, in her own words, she doesn't "white wash" Lady Astor or her life with any of her other employers. Rose had a clear and precise picture of people as they were. As she was in service as a lady's maid, she saw the good, the bad and the ugly. I thought Rose was a great observer, and people who are great observers, in my opinion, are excellent writers. They don't embellish. They report. And that's what Harrison did. She reported in great detail, always being careful to respect her employers, their guests and the people she worked along side.
I really enjoyed this book, it's a slice of a life lived a long time ago. It's well written, entertaining and it kept my interest. Almost too much, I never wanted to put it down. Harrison's My Life In Service to Lady Astor, thirty six years later, is still worth a read, it's the story of a life well told and well structured. It's a look into a time gone by, and shouldn't be missed. What a great lesson in life and history!
I really recommend My Life In Service to Lady Astor! Brava Rose Harrison!
** This book was provided to me by the publishers through NetGalley, and in no way affected my review.
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
By ChickLit
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am in love with the PBS series Downton Abbey right now, which led me to choose this book for my Kindle, mainly out of curiosity. It turned out to be a very special read. I was afraid it might be dry, like a history lesson. Especially when the author says right up front that she won't be "dishing any dirt" about the several ladies she served during her life. But it was told with such warmth, humor, and general good storytelling ability, it really kept my interest. You realize that Rose was not just "a maid," she was a true career person, worthy of a great deal of respect. What an incredible peek "behind the scenes" into some of the lives of England and America's rich and famous it is too!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A First Hand Look at Her World
A very enjoyable memoir by someone who really did see it firsthand. The book is a product of its time and does well to convey the thoughts of a ladies maid as well as her... Read more
Published 5 days ago by S. Herlihy
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Shut Up, Rose!"
While I haven't finished this book, I am almost done. LOVE IT. Interesting to read how Nancy Astor can be so selfish in one respect, as to what she wants and when she wants it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Shannon
4.0 out of 5 stars
My Life in Service
Excellent account of Nancy Astor, the person, told from her maid's perspective.
Interesting too because I was introduced to British and American society of the time.
Interesting too because I was introduced to British and American society of the time.
Published 1 month ago by Dr. Gail Lockart
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and somewhat related to the Downton Abbey time period and...
An interesting portrayal of people "in service" to the wealthy in England. Little drawn out in some places, but a good read.
Published 1 month ago by Kay A. Ballif
5.0 out of 5 stars
Touching
Couldn't put this book down ... thoughtful and touching portrayal of working for Mrs. Astor. Easy & fast read of life in service.
Published 1 month ago by mjc
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Purchase.
I loved the book. It gave me a whole new perspective on live in service. I never thought of the benefits only of the harsh requirements. We all travel different paths. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cacoder
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a life! She gave as good as she got!
She was a match for Lady Astor, and after 35 years, they truly had great affection for each other. Loved the book.
Published 2 months ago by Patti L. Schuster
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rose and Nancy, quite a pair
After reading this book, I would give Rose Harrison the keys to the palace. She showed patience beyond any I would have dealing with the temperment of Lady Astor. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. Johnson
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read
As Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "The rich are different from you and me."
This book was a good picture of the enormously wealthy people
who live so differently than... Read more
This book was a good picture of the enormously wealthy people
who live so differently than... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lili
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real life Downton Abbey
For anyone who is interested in the real life relationship between a ladies maid and her employer or the persona of Nancy Astor the first woman in English Parliament this is an... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Helen A Winship
