The Pecan Man

The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Looking back Ora, now in her 80s, decides to set the record straight on what happened back in the summer of 1976...

In 1976, widowed and childless Floridian Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless black man, named Eddie, to mow her grass and tinker in her garden - which causes an upheaval both in the community and with her friend and maid, Blanche. Eddie, nicknamed the Pecan Man, lives in a wooded area off of downtown and is not trusted by the white Floridian ladies in her small town. But Ora sees something in Eddie and still does, even when he's charged with killing the police chief's son. Ora also finds out a lot about her own character...

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The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At 14 Grace was fortunate to start service, as her mother did many years before, at Riverton, where the wealthy Hartford family lived. She watched the three golden haired, blue-eyed Hartford grandchildren, all near her own age, grow up and totally fell under their spell - David, Hannah, and Emmaline. Over the years, Grace took on the role of a lady's maid, helped dress the young women, and was privy to their conversations and secrets. Enter World War I, the Lord of the manor and his son, the Major, both fall in France, and Riverton and the world are changed forever. Hannah marries to escape, taking Grace with her, only to find that there is no escape, only boredom, but does find kinship and romance with her brother's best friend, Robbie - now a poet but Emmaline's love interest as well. The story ends with a scandalous event that no one knew Grace was privy to. Now 98 and failing, Grace is determined that her only grandson will know the truth.

The Great War changed so much, as all wars do, and social classes lost a foothold..the story is haunting as in how secrets were handled in that era, women were handled with kid gloves and not accepted into exclusive male conversations. ...for lovers of Upstairs/Downstairs and viewers of Downton Abbey..

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Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you love the movie Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs - this is the perfect read for you. Growing up in Hove, England, Margaret Powell, came from a very loving, but poor family. At age seven she was preparing breakfast for her siblings and ushering them to school. Even though Margaret was extremely bright and was given a scholarship, she began work at the tender age of 13 to help her family. Big for her age, she could pass for several years older and was, unfortunately, asked to do even more. At age 15, Margaret was working in a laundry and then moved up in the world when she was hired on as a kitchen maid - the lowest rung of the servant ladder, but Margaret had her eye on being a cook one day. The cook was usually treated better than other staff, given more free time, and could go out any afternoon - as long as she was back in time to cook dinner.

So honest, sad, and hilarious in parts, Margaret Powell wrote her novel in 1968 and opened the door on what went on behind the closed doors and basements of the wealthier class.


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The Dressmaker

The Dressmaker: A Novel by Kate Alcott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A friend of mine suggested the Dressmaker to me - she knows of my interest in anything Titanic - and I'm so glad she did so. I could not put this book down. At one point to my horror I looked at the clock and the digital display showed 2:30am. Morning was to come all too soon. Reluctantly I closed the cover until the next evening!

The Dressmaker tells of the other side of the Titanic story - what happens after. True events and historical hearings are set within the fictional story of a young maid named Tess, eager to escape her life of servitude in France, who is thrilled to find gainful employment with Lady Duff Gordon - a world renowned designer of women's clothing. As they ship out on the Titanic, Tess is ready for her new life in America and hopes to learn more dressmaking skills from her new mentor. Within four days of studying the wealthy, learning of Lady Duff Gordon's eccentric ways, and meeting two new men that will change her life, the doomed Titanic meets its well-known ending at the iceberg. With so few lifeboats, the wealthy, including Lady Duff Gordon and her husband, Cosmo, jump into one and Tess is fortunate to barely make it into another - clinging to two young lads whose father begged her to save. When the Carpathian finds the survivors and hauls them aboard, stories start to circulate of half empty lifeboats, survivors of the sinking but not gathered in the boats, of bribes/payoffs to the sailors, and men who cast themselves into the boats, foregoing the women and children. Once the rumors hit New York and Washington, DC they can no longer be hushed and the world has to come to terms with the inescapable moral aspects and coverups of the Titanic tragedy.

As I scorned those who lied, I ask myself what I would do in such a situation - I could only hope to act with honor and dignity, but none will know until confronted.

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The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm afraid my review is not going to do justice to this wonderful novel. I had heard a lot of good things written about The Help by Kathryn Stockett and couldn't wait to read it for myself.

The novel focuses on three women, Aibilene, Minnie, and Skeeter trying to live their very different lives in the turbulent 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. Skeeter who wants to be more than an adornment for a husband, has just graduated from college and wishes to be a writer. Minnie and Aibilene, both maids, work for Skeeter's best friends. The three women form a unlikely alliance, in the the midst of fear and oppression, in hopes of changing Jackson.

I can't wait to see the movie and I hope it does the book justice.



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