Imprint
- Coronet
- Coronet
Prose: non-fiction, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, Social & cultural history, Oral history, Local interest, family history & nostalgia
A revealing memoir of life below stairs.
Nancy Jackman was born in 1907 in a remote Norfolk village. Her father was a ploughman, her mother a former servant who struggled to make ends meet in a cottage so small that access to the single upstairs room was via a ladder.
The pace of life in that long-vanished world was dictated by the slow, heavy tread of the farm horse and though Nancy's earliest memories were of a green, sunny countryside still unspoiled by the motorcar, she also knew at first hand the harshness of a world where the elderly were forced to break stones on the roads and where school children were regularly beaten.
Nancy left school at the age of twelve to work for a local farmer who forced her to stand in the rain when she made a mistake, physically abused her and eventually tried to rape her.
Nancy continued to work as a cook until the 1950s, sustained by her determination to escape and find a life of her own.
The Cook's Tale shows you life below stairs as it really was and is perfect for fans of Downton Abbey.
More books by Tom Quinn
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