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This is a trilogy about a large country house in Kent. In particular it follows the fortunes of a family of loyal servants over three generations.The three books are set in the 1890s, and in the times of the First World War and the Second World War. The period snapshot given in each book shows how times, and especially the social structure of society, changes.
In this first book fourteen-year-old Olive Perkins –– who is usually known as Polly –– goes to become an under housemaid at Swallowcliffe Hall. We share her bewilderment as she sees the house for the first time and experience with her the long hours of exhausting work. But as well as cleaning, bedmaking and laying fires Polly also has to learn about the rigid code of behaviour expected from her. In the servants’ hall she soon discovers that she is not allowed to talk during meals. And later she finds that she can be dismissed if she speaks to one of the family without being spoken to first.
But despite this Polly does make some friends –– Iris the still room maid and William a footman. She even is befriended, in a kind of a way, by Miss Harriet, a daughter of the house who is only a few months younger than Polly herself.
The character of Harriet is also used to make another point about the era. Harriet would like to study science and become a doctor but her mother disapproves strongly.
The very different situations of the servants and the members of the rich family are clearly contrasted. The servants have to work from dawn to dusk while the family members have their glittering balls, their hunts, their seasons in London and their visits to Scotland for the grouse shooting.
There is this strict division between the servants and family members with dreadful dangers for any housemaid who dares to cross it. Polly learns of the frightful consequences for a fellow maid who formed a liaison with a male family member and became pregnant by him. For a time Polly becomes disillusioned and then she thinks of how people had lived at Swallowcliffe Hall for years before she arrived and would be there long after she has gone.
This book really evokes the spirit of the 1890s.
There is a very useful web site which enhances the book.
Young adult.
This is the second book in the trilogy about Swallowcliffe Hall, the large country house, the family who live in it and the servants who look after them. This second volume is told in the first person by Grace, the daughter of Polly the maid in the first book. We soon learn that Polly married the footman William. But William is now coachman at the Hall and Grace’s parents live in the gatehouse. Grace herself now lives in the Hall where she is working in the kitchen. But this does not suit her. She would far rather be helping her father in the stables.
And she soon gets her chance to do just that. For this is the time of the First World War and great changes are taking place. All the young men are away fighting and their jobs have to be done by women. Grace’s sister Ivy gets a job on a London omnibus. Eventually Grace’s mother becomes housekeeper at the Hall –– a position which would never been held by a married woman before. And the Hall is turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers.
More mundane changes are not neglected –– as when Grace’s father learns to drive one of the new motor cars.
Even although all the action takes place in and around Swallowcliffe Hall events in France are still brought home to the reader. There are extracts from contemporary newspapers and also of soldiers’ letters at the beginning of every chapter. Then the war touches the people of the Hall. A servant girl loses her sweetheart while one of the family has both his legs shot off. Grace’s brother Tom enlists and sends letters home to her. Then there is the devastating news that Tom is to be court martialled for cowardice. If found guilty he could be shot. In desperation Grace asks Rory to help but despite his high position in the Army will he be able to?
Then there is the sinking of the Lusitania and more tragedy for the Vye family. Grace makes friends with a survivor who puts her on the track of an old mystery. Who was really the father of Iris’s baby? Polly has always been convinced that it was Rory and blames him for the death of Iris. But now Grace finds out the truth.
If it were not for this development this book would be a stand-alone but this development of an event from the first book means that this series should be read in sequence.
Shows the changes in rural life during the First World War and also reveals the horror and carnage of the fighting. Also developes the story lines from the first book.
12+
This is the last book in the Swallowcliffe Hall trilogy.
London 1938. The Grace of the second book, Standing in the Shadows, is now a widow and a teacher living in London with her fourteen-year-old daughter Isobel and her two young sons. Isobel is recovering from tuberculosis and she is preparing to go down to Swallowcliffe Hall to recuperate with her grandmother –– the Polly of the first book.
Isobel feels strange at first but she soon comes to love the old house and the beautiful surrounding countryside. She meets, and becomes friendly with Andreas, a German Jewish boy who has come over to Britain with the Kindertransport. Isobel has no idea how Jews are treated in Germany but Andreas soon enlightens her and Isobel is determined to help somehow. The first thing is to get Andreas away from the surly shopkeeper with whom he is living. And then a way must be found to bring Andreas' mother and cousin to Britain. But Isobel soon finds that there are many people around her who do not welcome refugees.
That is one aspect of the book. Another is the change in the status of English country houses in the 1930s. Swallowcliffe Hall no longer has the grandeur it had in Victorian times. Death duties have taken their toll. The Hall is now run down and many of the rooms are shut up and no longer used. Then when part of the building is damaged in a fire Lord Vye tells Isobel that the family will not be able to afford the repairs. They will have to move to the dower house. Swallowcliffe Hall will gradually deteriorate and eventually be destroyed. Isobel is sad to think of such a thing happening.
Lastly we learn what happened to earlier characters in the series and all the loose ends are tied up. Isobel eventually learns why her mother has always stayed away from Swallowcliffe Hall. We meet again Harriet’s son Philip, now a doctor. He is now a widower and tries, tentatively, to resume his relationship with Grace. Finally we learn what happened to the infant son of Iris Baker, Ralph Chadwick. Indeed it is Ralph who finally manages to save the Hall.
This book rounds off the series and gives a good picture of the plight of refugees just before the Second World War. Should be read in conjunction with the comprehensive web site at http://www.swallowcliffehall.com/
Teenage girls.
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