Download or read book The Diary of a Maidservant written by Krishna Baldev Vaid and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-Independence Hindi literature is by and large dominated by the representations of urban, middle class life. Given this context, the focus of Krishna Baldev Vaid's The Diary of a Maidservant is unusual. While the setting is still the big city, the novel bridges the class-divide to delineate the life and thoughts of a young woman who earns a living as a casual household help. The story revolves around Shanti, a teenage maidservant. The generous and literate Mrs Varma gives Shanti a notebook to write in. Through this 'diary' Shanti gradually discovers all kinds of things about herself-impulses, dreams, contradictions. The same diary unfolds the forces an intelligent but poor girl has to contend with in burgeoning New Delhi. Shanti must cope with a family struggling to survive, predatory males, demanding mistresses, and a multitude of her own desires. Even the kindness of her middle-aged employers Biji and Newspaper Sahab-two people who idealistically set out to improve Shanti'slot in life-brings problems with it. Dedicated to hard-working women domestics, Krishna Baldev Vaid thrusts the reader directly into the complications of everyday relationships between masters and servants, and men and women. The Introduction to the volume has been written by Ashok Vajpeyi, a distinguished poet, critic, and editor. The novel, an absorbing read, and the analytically rich introduction by Professor Ashok Vajpeyi, a distinguished poet and academic, will appeal to students and scholars of literature in general and Indian literature in translation in particular, comparative literature, gender studies, cultural studies, as well as general readers.
Download or read book Diary of a Lady s Maid written by Emma Southgate and published by Melbourne University Publish. This book was released on 1995 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A very busy day. Lord and Lady Carrington arrived from England. Miss Harbord, 3 Gentlemen in Suite, 3 children, two nurses, two maids, 2 valets. Every room occupied. 47 to dinner-in State dining room-and 500 in the evening. All went off capitally. We got to bed soon after 2 a.m.' The reliable, hard-working and loyal Emma Southgate began her diary when she journeyed across rough seas and under stormy skies from England to Australia in 1884. She travelled as lady's maid to Lady Loch, wife of the newly appointed Governor of Victoria. When they arrived in Melbourne and took up residence in the magnificent Government House, Emma had the presence of mind to continue her record of daily life. The legacy of her diligence is published here for the first time. Through Emma's words we can relive the halcyon days of colonial times: sumptuous parties in elegant ballrooms and receptions on rolling lawns; stylish travel through the colonies of Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia; holidays in a grand home at Mount Macedon; important international visitors; and the social whirl that accompanied occasions such as Melbourne Cup week. These events are charmingly described in Emma's diaries from a behind-the-scenes point of view-the weariness of having to serve tea to thousands of 'ladies and gentlemen', visits to the poor and excursions to the beach, illnesses among staff and the kindnesses of her employers. Emma's authentic evocation of her life sparkles. Unpretentious and forthright, Emma's words captivate the reader as they bring to life the people, the places and the times. Besides Emma's accounts, Helen Vellacott has placed the newspaper reports of the day that show the official view-often quite different from Emma's observations. In this way, and with intriguing additional comment and information, Diary of a Lady's Maid gives us an insight into early Australian society.
Download or read book The Diary of a Scullery Maid written by Joe Rogers and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the story opens and closes in present-day Spain, the real beginnings are set in the early 1900s when, in Africa, the well-equipped army of the British Empire was being humbled by a few Boer farmers whose only uniform was a slouch hat and a bandolier over everyday work clothes. In England, with the wealth of the aristocracy in decline, Lord and Lady Blanchford-Carter decided to augment their dwindling finances by transforming part of their stately mansion into a high-class brothel for the upper echelons of society. Into this strange household came the young and innocent Helen Sarsfield to commence employment as a scullery maid. In Ireland, Helen's twin brother enlisted in the Connaught Rangers, and would soon depart for Africa, leaving behind his sweetheart in an Ireland rife with talks of insurrection; a place where James Connolly was reminding people that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity.
Download or read book The Diary of a Lady s maid written by Octave Mirbeau and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick Victorian Maidservant written by Hannah Cullwick and published by Virago Press. This book was released on 1984 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Diary of a Chambermaid written by Octave Mirbeau and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2021-05-07 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The novel presents itself as the diary of Mademoiselle Célestine R., a chambermaid. Her first employer fetishizes her boots, and she later discovers the elderly man dead, with one of her boots stuffed into his mouth. Later on, Célestine becomes the maid of an upper class couple, Lanlaire, and is perfectly aware that she is entangled in the power struggles of their marriage. Célestine ends by becoming a café hostess, who mistreats her servants in turn! Excerpt: "To-day, September 14, at three o'clock in the afternoon, in mild, gray, and rainy weather, I have entered upon my new place. It is the twelfth in two years. Of course I say nothing of the places which I held in previous years. It would be impossible for me to count them. Ah! I can boast of having seen interiors and faces, and dirty souls. And the end is not yet. Judging from the really extraordinary and dizzy way in which I have rolled, here and there, successively, from houses to employment-bureaus, and from employment-bureaus to houses, from the Bois de Boulogne to the Bastille, from the Observatory to Montmartre, from the Ternes to the Gobelins, everywhere, without ever succeeding in establishing myself anywhere, the masters in these days must be hard to please. It is incredible..."
Download or read book The Maid written by Nita Prose and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2023-06-27 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE • *WINNER OF THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION* • *SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDGAR ALLAN POE BEST NOVEL AWARD* • INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • CITYLINE BOOK CLUB PICK • “A twist-and-turn whodunit, set in a five-star hotel, from the perspective of the maid who finds the body. Think Clue. Think page-turner.”—Glamour A dead body is one mess she can’t clean up on her own. Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her Gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by, but since Gran died a few months ago, Molly has been navigating life's complexities by herself. With gusto, she throws herself into work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanour has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black. But will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late? Both a Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
Download or read book The Diary written by Batsheva Ben-Amos and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The diary as a genre is found in all literate societies, and these autobiographical accounts are written by persons of all ranks and positions. The Diary offers an exploration of the form in its social, historical, and cultural-literary contexts with its own distinctive features, poetics, and rhetoric. The contributors to this volume examine theories and interpretations relating to writing and studying diaries; the formation of diary canons in the United Kingdom, France, United States, and Brazil; and the ways in which handwritten diaries are transformed through processes of publication and digitization. The authors also explore different diary formats including the travel diary, the private diary, conflict diaries written during periods of crisis, and the diaries of the digital era, such as blogs. The Diary offers a comprehensive overview of the genre, synthesizing decades of interdisciplinary study to enrich our understanding of, research about, and engagement with the diary as literary form and historical documentation.
Download or read book Signa the Diary maid Or Life and Love in Norway written by Theodor Mügge and published by . This book was released on 1881 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Secret Diary of Jane Pinny written by Philip Ardagh and published by Secret Diary Series. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Facts meet fiction in this exciting, intricate Victorian detective story.
Download or read book Diary of a Tokyo Teen written by Christine Mari Inzer and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book for comic lovers and Japanophiles of all ages, Diary of a Tokyo Teen presents a unique look at modern-day Japan through a young woman's eyes. Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and an American father in 1997, Christine Mari Inzer spent her early years in Japan and relocated to the United States in 2003. The summer before she turned sixteen, she returned to Tokyo, making a solo journey to get reacquainted with her birthplace. Through illustrations, photos, and musings, Inzer documented her journey. In Diary of a Tokyo Teen, Inzer explores the cutting-edge fashions of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku district, eats the best sushi of her life at the renowned Tsukiji fish market, and hunts down geisha in the ancient city of Kyoto. As she shares the trials and pleasures of travel from one end of a trip to the other, Inzer introduces the host of interesting characters she meets and offers a unique—and often hilarious—look at a fascinating country and an engaging tale of one girl rediscovering her roots. **Listed as a 2016 Great Graphic Novel for Teens by the Young Adult Library Services Association**
Download or read book Life Below Stairs written by Alison Maloney and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-12-24 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: UPSTAIRS, an Edwardian home would have been a picture of elegance and calm, adorned with social gatherings and extravagantly envisioned dinner parties. DOWNSTAIRS, it was a hive of domestic activity, supported by a body of staff painstakingly devoted to ensuring the smooth running of the household. Brimming with family secrets, society scandal, and of course elaborate parties, dresses, and social customs, the world of an aristocratic Edwardian household as depicted on the hit show Downton Abbey has captivated millions. But what was life really like for the people who kept such a household running: the servants? In Life Below Stairs, international bestselling author Alison Maloney takes readers behind the scenes to reveal a lively and colorful picture of what went on "downstairs," describing servants' daily life in this now-vanished world. Detailing everything from household structure, pay and conditions, special duties, and rules and regulations, to perks, entertainment, and even romance, Maloney examines the drudgery and hardships below stairs, as well as the rewards and pleasures. Thoroughly researched and reliably informed, this charmingly illustrated volume also contains first-hand stories from the staff of the time, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the lifestyle and conduct of a bygone era.
Download or read book Family Culture and Society in the Diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr Secretary to Stadholder King William of Orange written by Rudolf M. Dekker and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-06-15 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on analysis of a diary kept by Constantijn Huygens Jr, the secretary to Stadholder-King William of Orange, this book proposes a new explanation for the invention of the modern, private diary in the 17th century. At the same time it sketches a panoramic view of Europe at the time of the Glorious Revolution and the Nine Years' War, recorded by an eyewitness. The book includes chapters on such subjects as the changing perception of time, book collecting, Huygens's role as connoisseur of art, belief in magic and witchcraft, and gossip and sexuality at the court of William and Mary. Finally this study shows how modern scientific ideas, developed by Huygens's brother Christiaan Huygens, changed our way of looking at the world around us.
Download or read book The Maids written by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major discovery: Tanizaki's wonderful final novel--now in English
Download or read book The Diary written by Samuel Pepys and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 846 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Housemaid s Daughter written by Barbara Mutch and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2013-12-10 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barbara Mutch's stunning first novel tells a story of love and duty colliding on the arid plains of Apartheid-era South Africa When Cathleen Harrington leaves her home in Ireland in 1919 to travel to South Africa, she knows that she does not love the man she is to marry there —her fiance Edward, whom she has not seen for five years. Isolated and estranged in a small town in the harsh Karoo desert, her only real companions are her diary and her housemaid, and later the housemaid's daughter, Ada. When Ada is born, Cathleen recognizes in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she cannot with her own family. Under Cathleen's tutelage, Ada grows into an accomplished pianist and a reader who cannot resist turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought to hide. As they grow closer, Ada sees new possibilities in front of her—a new horizon. But in one night, everything changes, and Cathleen comes home from a trip to find that Ada has disappeared, scorned by her own community. Cathleen must make a choice: should she conform to society, or search for the girl who has become closer to her than her own daughter? Set against the backdrop of a beautiful, yet divided land, The Housemaid's Daughter is a startling and thought-provoking novel that intricately portrays the drama and heartbreak of two women who rise above cruelty to find love, hope, and redemption.
Download or read book The Maid Narratives written by Katherine Van Wormer and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Maid Narratives shares the memories of black domestic workers and the white families they served, uncovering the often intimate relationships between maid and mistress. Based on interviews with over fifty people -- both white and black -- these stories deliver a personal and powerful message about resilience and resistance in the face of oppression in the Jim Crow South. The housekeepers, caretakers, sharecroppers, and cooks who share their experiences in The Maid Narratives ultimately moved away during the Great Migration. Their perspectives as servants who left for better opportunities outside of the South offer an original telling of physical and psychological survival in a racially oppressive caste system: Vinella Byrd, for instance, from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, recalls how a farmer she worked for would not allow her to clean her hands in the family's wash pan. These narratives are complemented by the voices of white women, such as Flora Templeton Stuart, from New Orleans, who remembers her maid fondly but realizes that she knew little about her life. Like Stuart, many of the white narrators remain troubled by the racial norms of the time. Viewed as a whole, the book presents varied, rich, and detailed accounts, often tragic, and sometimes humorous. The Maid Narratives reveals, across racial lines, shared hardships, strong emotional ties, and inspiring strength.
