One Pair of Hands
From Upstairs to Downstairs, in this charming 1930s memoir
$33.95
- Paperback
320 pages
- Release Date
15 September 2011
Summary
The thoroughly entertaining true story of life as a cook and general servant in the 1930s
“Life was a wordless battle of wits between us, with her keeping a sharp look-out for signs of neglect, and me trying to disguise my slovenliness by subterfuge. I became an adept at sweeping dust under the bed, and always used the same few pieces of silver.”
Unimpressed by the world of debutante balls, Monica Dickens shocked her family by getting a job. With no experience whatsoever, she …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780091944681 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0091944686 |
| Author: | Monica Dickens |
| Publisher: | Ebury Publishing |
| Imprint: | Ebury Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 320 |
| Release Date: | 15 September 2011 |
| Weight: | 219g |
| Dimensions: | 198mm x 129mm x 20mm |
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Critics Review
Glorious entertainment
Glorious entertainment * Daily Mail *
Riotously amusing * The Times *
About The Author
Monica Dickens
Monica Dickens MBE was born in 1915, and was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Expelled from St Paul’s Girls’ School, she was then sent to a finishing school in France, before returning home to life as a debutante- ‘The deb scene and the dances were absolute agony. I would look at the waiters and the maids at balls and know for certain that they were having a better time than I was. So I wanted to belong with them, down there where there was a bit of life.’ And indeed, she then spent two years as a cook and general servant. She later wrote about her experiences in her first book, One Pair of Hands (1939), which made her a bestseller at the age of twenty-two and immediately established her reputation as a writer. In her career she wrote over fifty books, including the Follyfoot novels, and for twenty years wrote a much-loved column for Woman’s Own. She was also involved with the NSPCC, the RSPCA and the Samaritans. She died in 1992, and is survived by two daughters.
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