Her Dark Passion, by James Swallow

[burntcopper]

Reading Redcoats by Richard Holmes. Immensely detailed, lots of first person entries and snippets, but it's a severe slog. Got to about the halfway point, but sadly getting more convinced that what I'm probably going to do this time around is the the 1920s Upstairs Downstairs fic and refer back to this the next time I do a nano set in this world that has, er, more of a concrete plot. So in the meantime, going to finish this, watch Gosford Park again, look up transport details and valeting in the 1920s, and stuff about lifeboats and shipwrecks. taraljc, prepare to be harassed for obscure details.

Pubmeet, there was the usual geeking, general sneering at SGU, happy squee sounds about the recent Big Bang Theory eps, the fun and big plot holes that is Flash Forward, and laughing our heads off at the cover to Jim's new Trek novel. The cover is fucking hysterical; it looks like a Mills and Boon. Considering Jim is a specialist in robots, big actions sequences and military geekery, we have no idea what the publishers were thinking.

Comments

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

Post-WWI, there'd be a serious dearth of men in service, because of conscription. Basically, every able-bodies boy or man went to war, and they were slaughtered by the tens of thousands. A lot of women left service to serve in teh Women's Land Army, replacing farm workers who went to France. A lot of housemaids took over footmen's duties, and there was a lot of downsizing of staff.

According to The Duties Of Servants from 1894:

A valet's duties were to care for his master's wardrobe--brush his clothes, clean his sheos and boots, to carry up the water for his master's bath, to put out his things for dressing, shave him, assist him in dressing, to pack and unpack his clotehs when travelling, put out his things for dinner, and carry up hot water for his dressing room. In country sports, he would often load for his master, stand behind his chair at dinner and wait table for his master and the lady accompanying him at dinner, and at home, to wait table at breakfast, family luncheon, and dinner. He makes sure his mater's wardrobe is in good repair and everything is in order.

From Horn's Life Belowstairs In The 20th Century:

According to Ernest King, who was a valet in the 1920s, when visiting, he would often valet for other men and even look at the women's shoes. he said 'I seldom finished before midnight, [but] it was worth it. My tips never came to less than sixteen pounds a week.' and was responsible for making all the arrangements for travel.

'The good valet is not told what is wanted on a journey, he must know. He should be prepared to dress his man for a funeral of a fancy dress ball. He must never be caught napping, he must be able to produce everything, even shoes so well-polished they may be used as a mirror in emergency! AT home, he will probably order all suits and shirts, socks and underclothes, in hotels he will be given sufficient to defray any tips.'

According to John Henry Inch's son, hsi father was a valet in the 1920s and 'never had a set day off, and but was expected to be on duty from early morning till late at night. Neither was he ever able to have a holiday.' His only relaxations were to go out shooting rabbits witht he gamekeeper or cycling to the local public house for a drink and a game of dominoes or darts."

I'll see if I can find a daily schedule. I know valets pretty much had the same duties as lady's maids, and Rosina Harrison's autobiograhy night yield one.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

Thankyou so much.

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

Okay, if you can lay hands on a secondhand copy, this book is MADE OF AWESOME and may be EXACTLY what you need.