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Rose
- My Life in Service to Lady Astor
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
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Publisher's summary
In 1928, Rosina Harrison arrived at the illustrious household of the Astor family to take up her new position as personal maid to the infamously temperamental Lady Nancy Astor, who sat in Parliament, entertained royalty, and traveled the world. "She's not a lady as you would understand a lady" was the butler's ominous warning. But what no one expected was that the iron-willed Lady Astor was about to meet her match in the no-nonsense, whip-smart girl from the country.
For 35 years, from the parties thrown for royalty and trips across the globe, to the air raids during World War II, Rose was by Lady Astor's side and behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly. In charge of everything from the clothes and furs to the baggage to the priceless diamond "sparklers", Rose was closer to Lady Astor than anyone else. In her decades of service she received one 5-pound raise, but she traveled the world in style and retired with a lifetime's worth of stories. Like Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, Rose is not only a captivating insight into the great wealth "upstairs" and the endless work "downstairs"; it is also the story of an unlikely decades-long friendship that grew between Her Ladyship and her spirited Yorkshire maid.
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Upper-class scoundrel Basil Seal, mad, bad, and dangerous to know, creates havoc wherever he goes, much to the despair of the three women in his life - his sister, his mother, and his mistress. When Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany, it seems the perfect opportunity for more action and adventure. So Basil follows the call to arms and sets forth to enjoy his finest hour - as a war hero. Basil's instincts for self-preservation come to the fore as he insinuates himself into the Ministry of Information and a little-known section of Military Security.
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Wickedly Funny
- By Chelz on 07-25-19
By: Evelyn Waugh
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The Quest for Queen Mary
- By: James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers - editor
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck, Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The highly acclaimed unexpurgated notes taken by James Pope-Hennessy for his official biography of Queen Mary, the present Queen's grandmother. Published in full for the first time and edited by much-admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers. When James Pope-Hennessy began his work on Queen Mary's official biography, it opened the door to meetings with royalty, court members and retainers around Europe. The series of candid observations, secrets and indiscretions contained in his notes were to be kept private for 50 years....
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obscure but poor gold
- By Dr. A. on 11-20-18
By: James Pope-Hennessy, and others
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Sarah Morris Remembers
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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With the help of her old diaries, Sarah Morris recounts her life story. The daughter of an English vicar, she begins by telling of her happy childhood with her brothers and sister in their country village. As a teenager, Sarah’s brother brings home a friend - Charles, a charming Austrian to whom she quickly becomes close. Over the years they fall in love, but when war breaks out Charles must return to Austria. While she awaits his return, Sarah quietly continues working hard and caring for her family. But she can’t stop wondering if she will ever see her sweetheart again…
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Lovely story
- By Hearth on 08-08-15
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Mrs. Tim of the Regiment
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Christine Rendel
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Vivacious, young Hester Christie tries to run her home like clockwork, as would befit the wife of British Army officer, Tim Christie. However hard Mrs Tim strives for seamless living amidst the other army wives, she is always moving flat-out to remember groceries, rule lively children, side-step village gossip and placate her husband with bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade. Left alone for months at a time whilst her husband is with his regiment, Mrs Tim resolves to keep a diary of events large and small in her family life.
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Life as a military wife
- By Jerri C on 03-09-13
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Staying On
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Paul Shelley
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Tusker and Lily Smalley stayed on in India. Given the chance to return ‘home’ when Tusker, once a Colonel in the British Army, retired, they chose instead to remain in the small hill town of Pankot, with its eccentric inhabitants and archaic rituals left over from the days of the Empire. Only the tyranny of their imposing landlady threatens to upset the quiet rhythm of their days.
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A Pleasant Meander
- By Ian C Robertson on 09-22-14
By: Paul Scott
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The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
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An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
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Cakes and Ale
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: James Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy, since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.
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Delightful
- By RueRue on 04-22-16
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Maeve's Times
- In Her Own Words
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.
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A GLIMPSE THROUGH MAEVE'S LOOKING GLASS
- By jstrfic on 08-08-17
By: Maeve Binchy
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Mrs Queen Takes the Train
- By: William Kuhn
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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An absolute delight of a debut novel by William Kuhn - author of Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books - Mrs Queen Takes the Train wittily imagines the kerfuffle that transpires when a bored Queen Elizabeth strolls out of the palace in search of a little fun, leaving behind a desperate team of courtiers who must find the missing Windsor before a national scandal erupts.
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Can't believe how much I loved this story
- By analyzethis on 03-10-13
By: William Kuhn
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World’s End
- The Lanny Budd Novels, Book 1
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first 13 years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious - but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him.
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didn't finish
- By Bird Miller on 05-08-22
By: Upton Sinclair
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The Sisters
- The Saga of the Mitford Family
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Annie Wauters
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the story of a close, loving family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy was one of the best-selling novelists of her day; the ethereally beautiful Diana was the most hated woman in England; and Unity Valkyrie, born in Swastika, Alaska, would become obsessed with Adolf Hitler.
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Great story, terrible reader
- By Victoria on 02-27-14
By: Mary S. Lovell
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Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993) was an international celebrity in her youth. But in 1963, the year of the Profumo Affair, the 11th Duke of Argyll shocked the country when he alleged that his adulterous wife had slept with over 80 men behind his back. The duke won a divorce, and Margaret was abandoned by most of her friends. Lyndsy Spence tells a tragic story of the life and downfall of this fascinatingly complex woman, and shows how she fell victim to a cruel husband, harsh social mores, and an unforgiving class.
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Delicious from start to finish!
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Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two "dirty centuries?" Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did rich people fear fruit?In her brilliantly and creatively researched book, Lucy Worsley takes us through the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen.
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Compelling.
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Downton Abbey portrays a world of elegance and decadence, a world of duty and obedience, and a world of romance and rivalry. This companion book, full of rich historical detail, takes fans deeper into that period than ever before. Experience the inner workings of the downstairs life and be dazzled by the glamour of upstairs life with profiles of all the major characters, interviews with the actors, and behind the scenes insights.
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Fun look at the backstory to Downton Abbey
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Empty Mansions
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When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly 60 years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the 19th century with a 21st-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades.
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What listeners say about Rose
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- The Louligan
- 08-12-13
AWFUL!! I was very disappointed.
I've been an avowed Anglophile all of my life, so I thought this would be right up my alley. Almost immediately, I remembered something I'd heard as a child as told by one of my father's great aunts. I always thought she was crazy when she referred to Lady Nancy Astor as "a classless, poor white trash racist". Clutching my imaginary pearls, I was shocked and appalled. And remained "verklempt" for many decades, only to discover that there was a lot of truth in my own family lore about Nancy Astor.
Author and Astor maid Rosina "Rose" Harrison doesn't reveal where "the bodies are buried" in this ponderous tome. In fact, her "brown-nosing" of her "betters" is a bit over the top. While I can forgive her for not throwing Nancy under the bus for the most part, Rose seems to be clueless as she co-signs on her employer's inappropriate behaviors and language. I understand that this all took place during a much less politically correct time, but Nancy (I refuse to call her "Lady" any more) thought it was cute to make overt fun of her friends, family, the disabled, and other races and cultures. A bit a side research informed me that Nancy was actually the daughter of Virginia slave owners who lost their fortune after the Civil War. My father's ancestors were Virginia slaves and later domestics in wealthy Washington DC and New York City homes - being the requisite preferred "high yella" complexion to work in the best circles. My father's "Aint" Bessie likely got her insider info from working in homes where the Astors frequented. I would have thought Nancy would have learned some common "home training" after marrying a British lord and herself becoming a member of Parliament. However her undercover manners belied the alleged philanthropic contributions she is known for. And her maid Rose was as crass and insensitive as her mistress. I usually don't get upset by the use of the word "nigger" in books where the literary value outweighs the racial epitaphs. But Nancy (and Rose as a compliant supporter) was just nasty and hateful. No amount of British veneer could mask her "Papa Whiskey Tango" racism and meanness towards those less fortunate, no matter their race or ethnic origin. It was obvious that she had never bothered to interact with an African American person her life, instead preferring to call them "nigger" every chance she got. Nancy was nothing more than a bog Irish golddigger.
Author Rose Harrison showed me that there is a big difference between a "slave" and a "servant". The former is a state of being while latter is a state of mind. If she could have pulled her head out of her mistress' rear long enough to learn more of the world around her, this could have been a good book. As it is, it's merely a waste of money. Not so much time because I could only stomach about 1/3 of the thing before I had to put it down. This is not "Downton Abbey" or "Upstairs Downstairs". It's more like a very bad "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte" with 2 scary old white women trying to one-up each other in their own insular world. Nancy Astor comes off as unstable, like a person with a lesion on her frontal lobe. As "Aint" Bessie said "That cow didn't have the sense that God gave a chicken!". That's a lot of farm animals when describing a "Lady". Sad.........
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46 people found this helpful
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- Teaque
- 04-11-14
Winston Churchill was right about the poison...
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Only Rosina's employer. I was very excited to give this a listen, despite what I've always heard about Lady Astor, and I was not disappointed by the narrative at all. Rosina is an honest, salt-of-the-Earth voice, and I found her charming throughout.
What was most disappointing about Rosina Harrison’s story?
Even after all I'd heard, I was fully prepared to give Lady Astor the benefit of the doubt, no one could really be so bad. Wrong, she was worse. Between the chilly treatment of her children, the cat shooting, and the unending stream of verbal abuse, "I want to break your spirit, Rose," I have seldom heard of anyone more spiteful, petty, and mean spirited in my life. I think Rose, or any of the staff mentioned throughout, must have been the soul of patience to have dealt with the ill tempered witch for so long.
Which scene was your favorite?
Probably when Lady Astor tried to kick Rose (no joke) and Rose made a grab for her ankle to tip her over. I thought it was an incredible pity that Rose missed, the image of Nancy Astor @$$ over teakettle in the floor would have been one to cherish.
Any additional comments?
If you can get past sweet Rose's sour-puss employer, the story as a whole, and the behind the scenes peeks at the life of a Lady's Maid in this era, are really fascinating.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Silverthorne
- 01-07-13
Time Travel
This is a fun book for people who like to time-travel into the past, and into other kinds of lives. It's really a vacation and a wonderful escape. Heartily recommended for those with curiosity.
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11 people found this helpful
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- R. G. Kaelin
- 12-26-15
Couldn't Do It
Would you try another book from Rosina Harrison and/or Wanda McCaddon?
Yes
Would you ever listen to anything by Rosina Harrison again?
Yes
What about Wanda McCaddon’s performance did you like?
Yes
Do you think Rose needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No because there was not enough content for this one.
Any additional comments?
The first third was good, the second third was OK and the last third I cannot comment on because I could just not get through this book.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Susan
- 04-18-13
I wanted to be facinated...
Any additional comments?
... I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. The book just missed the mark.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Nymeria Stark
- 09-26-15
Lovely and Poignant
After watching a marathon session of Dowton Abbey I needed to fill my 'fix' of Upstairs/Downstairs relationships. This book truly hit the mark! I had heard some stories about Nancy Astor in the past and this book truly does a superb job of illuminating her larger than life character while modestly describing resiliant and endearing Rose, Nancy's Lady's Maid. This book also examines their 30+year relationship in an intriguing and beautiful way.
i loved this book and I'm off to read it again! I'm also looking for more stories that illustrate how people lived in the Aristocracy with their maids and butlers, especially where there is a true respect and personal relationships have formed.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Laurie
- 05-25-21
Interesting Memoir
This should be a go-to if you are ever curious about the attitudes of British servants in the palmy days of the great Empire. It has plenty of detail about the activities in great houses as well and probably was a reference for Downton Abbey. There are also hair raising descriptions of the WW II blitz bombings. If you’re looking for dirt on Lady Astor you won’t get much of it here, though the character analysis is fairly frank.
The narration is impeccable.
By the way, I’m pretty sure I listened to the whole book and I never heard the “n” word. Not once.
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- Ashlee1228
- 03-14-18
Really good
I really liked this one and hated for it to end, in fact I may listen to it again. The reader was really good and is from the UK, so she sounds right for the part and I found myself forgetting that she wasn’t the actual person who the book is about.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-30-13
A Little Too Rushed
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Yes, it had a very interesting point of view at a particular time in history.
What did you like best about this story?
Both of the ladies personalities.
What three words best describe Wanda McCaddon’s voice?
Rich, interesting, rushed...
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Yes, if sets were well done.
Any additional comments?
Loved the reader's voice, but hated the editing of it. It was a quicker pace, but sometimes had nice pauses in between paragraphs. Other times it was one long rush of words after another. Quite exhausting, really. Her intonations and voices were excellent and I would like to try her again under another editor/director.
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- Maria Curd
- 07-23-23
What a beautiful story
You couldn’t help but fall in love with Rose.
I admired her loyalty to herself and the Aster family. Her character was impeccable. I think that is why her and Lady Aster became so close. Just a great story.
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