Wow! eBook
Diamonds At Dinner: My Life as a Lady's Maid in a 1930s Stately Home.
Author(s): Hilda Newman (Author)
- Publisher: John Blake
- Publication Date: 1 Sept. 2013
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 1782196102
- ISBN-13: 9781782196105
Book Description
The year was 1935: the twilight of the English aristocracy. It was a time of wealth and glamour; of lavish balls and evening gowns; of tiaras and a Coronation. As personal maid to Lady Coventry, Hilda had a unique insight into the leisured life of one of Britain’s most noble families. In her fascinating memoir of life upstairs and down, Hilda takes us back to a gilded era which would be brutally swept away by the Second World War. Hers is a very personal story of being transplanted from a tiny house with no bath or hot water to an eighteenth-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by parkland landscaped by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. But it is also the remarkable story of the family whose service she entered – and that of Croome Court itself: during World War Two, it housed the Dutch Royal Family – who had fled the Nazi occupation – and it was also home to the top-secret RAF base where radar was developed. This is Hilda’s story.
Editorial Reviews
Review
..”.briskly told, evocative and engaging memoir.” —The Washington Times
.”..briskly told, evocative and engaging memoir.” –“The Washington Times “
About the Author
Hilda Newman was a maid to Lady Coventry at the Worcestershire stately home of Croome Court in the 1930s. Now in her late 90s, Hilda has led a remarkable life both above and below the stairs. Tim Tate is the author of several previous books.
