“Fascinating . . . The reader is treated to a revealing account of the passionate romance between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning through the eyes of an intimate observer.”—Booklist Young and timid but full of sturdy good sense and awakening sophistication, Lily Wilson arrives in London in 1844, becoming a lady’s maid to the fragile, housebound Elizabeth Barrett. Lily is quickly drawn to her mistress’ s gaiety and sharp intelligence, the power of her poetry, and her deep emotional need. It is a strange intimacy that will last sixteen years. It is Lily who smuggles Miss Barrett out of the gloomy Wimpole Street house, witnesses her secret wedding to Robert Browning in an empty church, and flees with them to threadbare lodgings and the heat, light, and colors of Italy. As housekeeper, nursemaid, companion, and confidante, Lily is with Elizabeth in every crisis–birth, bereavement, travel, literary triumph. As her devotion turns almost to obsession, Lily forgets her own fleeting loneliness. But when Lily’s own affairs take a dramatic turn, she comes to expect the loyalty from Elizabeth that she herself has always given. Praise for Lady's Maid “[A] wonderful novel . . . fully imagined and persuasive fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review “Absorbing . . . heartbreaking . . . grips the reader's imagination on every page . . . [Margaret] Forster paints a vivid picture of class, station, hypocrisy and survival in Victorian society.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Extremely readable . . . The author's sense of the nineteenth century seems innate.”—The New Yorker “Highly recommended . . . an engrossing novel of the colorful Browning ménage.”—Library Journal “Delightful . . . entertaining.”—Vogue

A very busy day. Lord and Lady Carrington arrived from England. Miss Harbord, 3 Gentlemen in Suite, 3 children, two nurses, two maids, 2 valets. Every room occupied. 47 to dinner-in State dining room-and 500 in the evening. All went off capitally. We got to bed soon after 2 a.m.' The reliable, hard-working and loyal Emma Southgate began her diary when she journeyed across rough seas and under stormy skies from England to Australia in 1884. She travelled as lady's maid to Lady Loch, wife of the newly appointed Governor of Victoria. When they arrived in Melbourne and took up residence in the magnificent Government House, Emma had the presence of mind to continue her record of daily life. The legacy of her diligence is published here for the first time. Through Emma's words we can relive the halcyon days of colonial times: sumptuous parties in elegant ballrooms and receptions on rolling lawns; stylish travel through the colonies of Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia; holidays in a grand home at Mount Macedon; important international visitors; and the social whirl that accompanied occasions such as Melbourne Cup week. These events are charmingly described in Emma's diaries from a behind-the-scenes point of view-the weariness of having to serve tea to thousands of 'ladies and gentlemen', visits to the poor and excursions to the beach, illnesses among staff and the kindnesses of her employers. Emma's authentic evocation of her life sparkles. Unpretentious and forthright, Emma's words captivate the reader as they bring to life the people, the places and the times. Besides Emma's accounts, Helen Vellacott has placed the newspaper reports of the day that show the official view-often quite different from Emma's observations. In this way, and with intriguing additional comment and information, Diary of a Lady's Maid gives us an insight into early Australian society.

IT was the autumn after I had the typhoid. I'd been three months in hospital, and when I came out I looked so weak and tottery that the two or three ladies I applied to were afraid to engage me. Most of my money was gone, and after I'd boarded for two months, hanging about the employment-agencies, and answering any advertisement that looked any way respectable, I pretty nearly lost heart, for fretting hadn't made me fatter, and I didn't see why my luck should ever turn. It did though—or I thought so at the time. A Mrs. Railton, a friend of the lady that first brought me out to the States, met me one day and stopped to speak to me: she was one that had always a friendly way with her. She asked me what ailed me to look so white, and when I told her, "Why, Hartley," says she, "I believe I've got the very place for you. Come in to-morrow and we'll talk about it."

"In 1929, Yorkshire lass Rosina Harrison became personal maid to Lady Astor: the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat and wife of one of England's wealthiest lords. Lady Astor was brilliant yet tempestuous, but outspoken Rose gave as good as she got. For 35 years, the battle of wills and wits raged between the two women, until an unlikely friendship began to emerge. "The Lady's Maid" is a captivating insight into the great wealth 'upstairs' but also the endless work 'downstairs', but it is Rose's unique relationship with Lady Astor that makes this book a truly enticing read"--Publisher's description.

Davis spins a tale in which readers will hit the trail with a faithful maid determined to protect her mistress from ruffians and ne'er-do-wells in the Wild West. Will maid meet her match?

Fiercely dependent on her identity as a lady’s maid, a woman relates her experiences and ambitions, and the paths that her vocation has taken her down in this dramatic monologue. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

In the quiet of a warm summer's evening, two young mothers are forced to give up their babies. As the years have passed, Kate has grown up knowing only poverty and servitude, whilst Josie's world is one of privilege and luxury. Despite the differences in their circumstances, Kate and Josie have been friends since childhood. But their past binds them together in ways they must never know. Until a chance meeting forces Kate and Josie to confront the truth of that night nearly twenty years before - a truth that turns both worlds upside down and threatens to destroy their friendship forever. . .