Below Stairs : The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs And Downton Abbey
by Margaret Powell

There are so many requests for this book at different public libraries that I wish I could alert these people not to bother. I got to page 180 and called it quits. By rights, I probably should have finished the bloody thing with 32 pages left, but I could no longer stand it.
For those of you who are hooked on "Downton Abbey," just stick with the show. I'm sure there's more depth than there than you get with this tale.
Margaret Powell came from poverty and at fifteen went into service as a kitchen maid. The work was extremely hard (up at 5:30 A.M. and finished well after dark) and it was totally different from what she was used to. She would scrub vegetables, the front steps, polish shoes, iron bootlaces, on and on. The homes were magnificent but not so the owners. The help worked their butts off for measly pay and certainly were not appreciated.
The most interesting thing that I can say about the book is reading about the difference in the classes. (This all took place during the 1920s.) Unfortunately, the writing is not the best (there are numerous errors) and all of the jobs became tedious and repetitious to read about. It just fell flat for me.
Not recommended.