Kate’s 2¢: “Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castle” by Fiona Carnarvon Countess of Carnarvon

“Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castle” by Fiona Carnarvon Countess of Carnarvon  

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Who could ever forget Mrs. Bridges, the cook in “Upstairs, Downstairs” hosted by Alistair Cooke on the PBS series “Masterpiece Theater”?  Now, I know who her namesake was: Mrs. Bridgeland!

   While the program was airing each week, my husband had some other program he liked to watch and never stayed on PBS long enough for me to pick up the full story line. Then, ACB started doing audio descriptions with the third segment, but we couldn’t get the sap (second audio program). Now, with roku, we can access sap, but “Downton Abbey” is a pay-to-view. We aren’t willing to pay, so I down loaded the book from BARD. I’m thoroughly enjoying Kristin Allison’s reading of this story.   

   I suspect what I’m missing by not accessing the AD PBS version are music, different character voices, sound effects, and the descriptions fitted in-between the dialogue. I think, though, by reading the book, I’m getting a more detailed understanding of what transpired. Usually, after I read a book, I don’t appreciate watching the movie.

This story expounds about Howard Carter and carnarvon’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb, the hospital during the war, and the lavish life style.

From https://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/a

Dec 17, 2019

lady carnarvon real life Downton Abbey

MATTHEW LLOYD

You likely don’t know Lady Fiona Carnarvon, eighth Countess of Carnarvon. But you probably know a little bit about her life and her home of Highclere Castle thanks to a not-so-little show called Downton Abbey. Or at least you think you do.

Although Lady Carnarvon and her husband Geroge Herbert, the Eighth Earl of Carnarvon, are the real-life counterparts of Downton Abbey’s Lord Robert and Lady Cora Grantham, she says that they’re “truly not very similar at all.”

“It’s much more hands-on, it’s much more pro-active,” Lady Carnarvon tells Woman’s Day during a recent press trip to the estate. “Cora is living in a different century. Today, I’m running events, marketing, branding, there’s a computer system, an accountant. I’m going on the bicycle to go walk the dogs, see the gardeners, down to the farm to see the pigs, feed the chickens, and then that’s the first part of the day before I’ve even started.”

MORE FROM WOMAN’S Day.

   Fiona Herbert 8th Countess of Carnarvon was born as Fiona Aitken. She has been married to George Herbert since February 18, 1999. They have one child.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castle DB75167

Carnarvon, Fiona, Countess of. Reading time: 7 hours, 58 minutes.

Read by Kristin Allison. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Bestsellers

World History and Affairs

Lady Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon, chronicles the era that inspired the British television series Downton Abbey. She details the life of Almina–illegitimate daughter of Sir Alfred de Rothschild–who married the fifth earl of Carnarvon in 1895 and enjoyed upper-class privileges until World War I. Some violence. Bestseller. 2011.

Downloaded: February 23, 2021

Kate’s 2¢: Below stairs: the classic kitchen maid’s memoir that inspired Upstairs, downstairs and Downton Abbey by Margaret Powell

: “Below stairs: the classic kitchen maid’s memoir that inspired Upstairs, downstairs and Downton Abbey” by Margaret Powell

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Back in the day, my husband and I would join Alastaire Cooke as he hosted “Upstairs, Downstairs” on PBS’ Masterpiece Theater once a week.  This is the book that inspired it all, so many of the events in the book reminded me of the TV program.

   Cathy Gloeckner did a wonderful job of reading this story.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Ellen Margaret Steer’s father Harry was seasonally employed as a house painter, and her mother Florence was a charwoman. Her parents and her grandmother lived in three rooms in Hove, Sussex, and she had six siblings. When she was 13 and won a scholarship to grammar school, her parents could not afford to allow her to take it up.[1][2][3] She went to work in a laundry until she was 15 and became a maid, first locally and a year later in London. Since she had experience cooking at home and hated needlework, she became a kitchen maid instead of an under-housemaid, a slightly more prestigious position.[1]

After “set[ting] about [finding a husband] as if it were an extra household duty, like hulling five pounds of strawberries or mopping the linoleum floor”,[1] she escaped domestic service by marrying a milkman, Albert Powell.[4] When her three sons were in grammar school, towards the end of the Second World War, she became a maid once more. Eventually, “when I realised I had nothing to talk about with my eldest son, who was preparing to go to university”, she took evening school courses in philosophy, history and literature, passed her O-levels at 58, and went on to A-levels, passing the English A-level in 1969.[5][clarification needed]

Writing career and later life[edit]

She published her memoir, Below Stairs, in 1968. It sold well, 14,000 copies in its first year, and was followed by other autobiographical books beginning the following year. She also wrote some novels.[1] She became a popular guest on television talkshows.[1][6] When she died in April 1984 at 76 after suffering from cancer,[5] she left a substantial estate of £77,000.[1][7]

From NLS/BARD/LOC;:

Below stairs: the classic kitchen maid’s memoir that inspired Upstairs, downstairs and Downton Abbey DBC02943

Powell, Margaret. Reading time: 5 hours, 45 minutes.

Read by Cathy Gloeckner. A production of Colorado Talking Book Library.

Biography

Social Sciences

World History and Affairs

Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants portrayed in “Downton Abbey” and “Upstairs, Downstairs,” Powell’s classic memoir of her time in service is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.

Downloaded: February 23, 2021

Download Below stairs: the classic kitchen maid’s memoir that inspired Upstairs, downstairs and Downton Abbey

Kate’s 2¢: “Cat’s Eyes” by Margaret Atwood

“Cat’s Eyes” by Margaret Atwood

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Apparently, my memory isn’t as good as Elaine’s. I’ve gone back to places my family lived and not recalled in such detail, any memories of living there. Perhaps, my childhood wasn’t a full of trauma as Elaine’s.

   I love the creative narrative of this story; taking us from one stage in Elaine’s life, then, back and forth until the finale.

   Pam Ward did a wonderful job of reading this story to us.

From the WEB:

   Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe College.

   Atwood is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her latest book of short stories is Stone Mattress: Nine Tales (2014). Her MaddAddam trilogy the Giller and Booker prize-nominated Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013) is currently being adapted for HBO. The Door is her latest volume of poetry (2007). Her most recent non-fiction books are Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (2008) and In Other Worlds: SF and th…

From LNS/BARD/LOC:

Cat’s eye DB29001

Atwood, Margaret. Reading time: 13 hours, 36 minutes.

Read by Pam Ward. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

General

Psychological Fiction

When Elaine Risley returns to Toronto for a retrospective of her slightly surreal paintings, she must face many of the childhood memories she had tried to push aside when she fled the city years earlier. As Elaine reflects on her childhood and remembers her “best friend,” Cordelia, she reveals much of the torment that children can inflict on one another. Book club main selection.

Downloaded: January 28, 2021

Kate’s 2¢: “The Edible Woman” by Margaret Atwood

“The Edible Woman” by Margaret Atwood

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I came to the end of almost 12 hours of listening to “The Edible Woman” and continued to sit, dumbfounded. Was that all there was?

   I suspect a psychologist could have a field day with this story. I’m just not that deep a thinker. I figure the author wrote a story, a fictional story, turning the narrative arc this way and that, to suit her own fancies.

   I recognize that stabs were taken at the way married women were forced to quit their jobs; men expected ‘the little woman’ to be of a certain chic; Mothers lost their own identities into mothering, home, and hearth; single women were selfish to connive to get pregnant without marriage; and a variety of other points to ponder.

   I’m still pondering.

From the WEB:

   Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe College.

   Atwood is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her latest book of short stories is Stone Mattress: Nine Tales (2014). Her MaddAddam trilogy the Giller and Booker prize-nominated Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013) is currently being adapted for HBO. The Door is her latest volume of poetry (2007). Her most recent non-fiction books are Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (2008) and In Other Worlds: SF and th…

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The edible woman DBC01305

Atwood, Margaret. Reading time: 11 hours, 15 minutes.

Read by Sandra Kazan. A production of Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library.

Psychological Fiction

Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can’t eat. First meat. Then eggs, vegetables, cake–everything! Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she’s being eaten. A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor.

Downloaded: January 22, 2021

Kate’s 2¢: “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood

“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   The three testaments are pieced together to develop a sequential story of corruption, intrigue, resilience, and many other emotions.

   At the end of the testaments, the symposium’s key-note speaker ties-up the loose threads of this intriguing saga. There are, however, a few threads that still could be pulled out in another story.

   I found, at the end of each person’s testament,  I was annoyed to ‘leave it there’ to continue another’s testament. I wanted to hear the one testament through to the end. I suspect, though, the author employed the ‘cliff-hanger’ to keepthe reader listening or turning the pages.

From the WEB:

   Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe College.

   Atwood is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her latest book of short stories is Stone Mattress: Nine Tales (2014). Her MaddAddam trilogy the Giller and Booker prize-nominated Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013) is currently being adapted for HBO. The Door is her latest volume of poetry (2007). Her most recent non-fiction books are Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (2008) and In Other Worlds: SF and th…

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The Testaments DB96649

Atwood, Margaret. Reading time: 13 hours, 20 minutes.

Read by Tantoo Cardinal.

Science Fiction

Bestsellers

Fifteen years after the van door slammed on Offred’s future, three women provide testaments on life in Gilead. Sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale (DB 24695). Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2019.

Kate’s 2¢: “The Hand Maid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood

“The Hand Maid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   As I continued to read “The Hand Maid’s Tale”, I began to recognize parts of it.  I kept reading, because I couldn’t remember many of the details from decades ago.

   Given the state of recent events (November, 2020, election voting fraud, rioters breaking into the U.S. capitol Building on January 6, 2021, and the nearly police state surrounding the January 20, 2021 swearing in of the new President and his eclectic cabinet), this story might have been a blueprint.  I’ve never felt comfortable with everyone doing on-line banking. This story shows what can happen with just a stroke of the right computer key.

   I liked the creative use of the craft of writing, by telling the tale, then attributing it to the researching of the hand maid’s taped narratives.

From the WEB:

   Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe College.

   Atwood is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her latest book of short stories is Stone Mattress: Nine Tales (2014). Her MaddAddam trilogy the Giller and Booker prize-nominated Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013) is currently being adapted for HBO. The Door is her latest volume of poetry (2007). Her most recent non-fiction books are Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (2008) and In Other Worlds: SF and th…

From   NLS/BARD/LOC:

The handmaid’s tale DB24695

Atwood, Margaret. Reading time: 10 hours, 48 minutes.

Read by Laura Giannarelli. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Science Fiction

Bestsellers

Set in the future, the United States of America is now the Republic of Gilead, a fundamentalist Christian theocracy that arose after fanatics shot the president, machine-gunned the Congress and forced the army to declare a state of emergency. To reverse the declining birthrate, women are forcibly recruited into the ranks of Handmaids and are assigned to the Commanders of the Faithful, whose wives are barren. Some strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller 1986.

Cornucopia: Hyacinths

Hyacinths, Double Acrostic

By Kate Chamberlin

February 14, 2021

Hailstones  thaw into  torrential rain drops

   Husband surprises beloved wife  with a gift

Yowling, yammering, yawling gales

   Yellow, pink, and white

Accuweather map’s hues bloom like a Monet garden

   Aroma so sweet as to be cloying

Clouds shaped into dark anvils morph into puffy, white pillows

   Clusters of small florets

Insects metamorphize and bulbs swell

   Incense au natural

Nestlings’ hungry chirps and burbles permeate the evergreen forest

   Newlyweds for 51 years

Temperate temperatures tempt wearing T-shirts and shorts

   Tender kisses and caresses

History repeats cum Janis, as the hours jump ahead

   Happiness abounds

Showers turn the lanes into mud

   Spring is afoot.

Kate’s 2¢: “Midwives” by Laurie Alice Eakes

“Midwives” by Laurie Alice Eakes

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   The Behind Our Eyes, Inc., an international group of writers with disabilities, interviewed Eakes on Sunday, February 7^th, during one of their twice-monthly meetings.

   “Lady in the Mist” leads the reader on a merry chase as to who is doing what to whom. God and His love win in the end. This historical novel reminds us that not all slaves were black. There were white slaves, too.

   “Heart’s Safe Passage”exemplifies how the staunch love of a God fearing Christian woman can bring about a reluctant sea captain’s pursuit of revenge to love again.

   “Choices of the Heart”, follows Esther as she runs away as her faith in God is in crisis.  

From  M. Leona Godin, PhD; Founding editorAromaticaPoetica.com; Writer, Actor, Artist, Educator; DrMLGodin.com:

   “…Yes, Blind People Read Books. We Write Them, Too”:

   It’s a wonderfully snarky and poignant look at the prejudices blind writers can sometimes face in the publishing world, as well as an informative story of her journey to become a professional author with more than two dozen traditionally published books behind her, and more under contract. Alice is also a great person to talk to about the pros and cons of self-publishing vs. going the traditional publishing-house route, as she also acquired the rights to a few of her early novels and self-published them.

bio

Laurie Alice Eakes (Alice) has wanted to write books since she learned how stories were created. Though her first paid publications were poems, she moved onto novels, winning a National Readers Choice Award for her first published novel, Family Guardian, and garnering some

other accolades along the way like reaching 86 on the Amazon overall top 100 list with The Mountain Midwife. Since the publication of her first book in 2006, she has had over two

dozen books published and has three more scheduled for release over the next year and a half.

   Despite honors and publications, and having seven of her books recorded for the commercial audio market, her proudest moment in her career was when NLS Brailled one book and recorded three others.    When she isn’t writing, Eakes likes to knit—bad though she is at it—watch TV shows with no intellectual value whatsoever, go for walks with her Seeing Eye Dog, Windy, usually ending up at a coffeeshop, and read, read, read.

   She lives eight blocks north of the Chicago city limits, with her husband, a lawyer, and four cats besides their two guide dogs. One way they’ve gotten through the isolation of the pandemic, so far, is to have socially-distanced wine parties with their amazing neighbors.

   Many of her books are available on Bookshare, and here are some other

links to learn more about Alice:

Goodreads:

Website:

from NLS/BARD/LOC:

Midwives. Books 1-3 DB97393

Eakes, Laurie Alice. Reading time: 36 hours, 2 minutes.

Read by Cecelia Riddett.

Religious Fiction

Romance

Three novels of inspirational historical romance, written between 2011 and 2013, about midwives in nineteenth-century Virginia. In Lady in the Mist, midwife Tabitha Eckles meets a British nobleman working as an indentured servant. Also includes Heart’s Safe Passage and Choices of the Heart. 2013.

Kate’s 2¢: “Blind Assassin” by Margaret Atwood

“Blind Assassin” by Margaret Atwood

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   If you read the LOC annotation before you read “Blind Assassin”, it will make fore sense right from the beginning. I like the ending, though it is a bit upsetting to know some people can be so dominating and/or evil.

From the WEB:

   Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe College.

   Atwood is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her latest book of short stories is Stone Mattress: Nine Tales (2014). Her MaddAddam trilogy the Giller and Booker prize-nominated Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013) is currently being adapted for HBO. The Door is her latest volume of poetry (2007). Her most recent non-fiction books are Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (2008) and In Other Worlds: SF and th…

From NLS/BARD/LOC          :

The blind assassin DB50848

Atwood, Margaret. Reading time: 17 hours, 23 minutes.

Read by Mary Kane. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

General

Bestsellers

This convoluted tale of two sisters begins with the questionable circumstances of the 1945 death of the younger, Laura, at twenty-five. A memoir by Iris, the surviving and now elderly sister, recalls what led up to the tragic event. Interspersed is a novel-within-a-novel, Laura’s posthumously published book. Bestseller. 2000.

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