Lady's Maid

Lady's Maid

by: Margaret Forster

This book was recommended to me by Bonnie Card. Sorry, Bonnie, it was NOT a good book. It did have some interesting parts, information, but after 546 pages, it was a downer!

It is about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her maid, her courship with her husband, their life together, but mainly about Elizabeth and her maid. It is mostly true - the author says.

It was just shocking to me that the Lady is pretty much treated like a two year old, helped to get dressed, undressed, hair fixed, etc. The maid, for her services, gets paid 16 somethings a year. There was a true caste system in the way they all lived. I found the book sad for those living it, happy for me that I do NOT have to live that way! If you are feeling a little too giddy with yourself, and need to be brought down a tad, read this book about a hard, sad life, a passive-aggressive employer, sickness, death.

Now, I have got to ask Bonnie why she liked it!