Welcome to Litsy!

(1741) In 1740 Samuel Richardson wrote Pamela, an epistolary novel about a servant girl who resists her employer's increasingly forceful sexual advances until he proposes marriage, at which point they happily wed. In this 1741 novella, Henry Fielding lampooned Pamela by pretending to publish Pamela's original letters, which expose her as a fraud. Fielding's wit is sharper than Richardson's, but his classism and misogyny are, if anything, worse.

This prompt fits perfectly with one of my quirky interests I don‘t know exactly why I am interested in this subject matter. #maid #CharacterCharm

(Oh! This is for tomorrow. At least, I‘m early! )

I love Laurie Halse Anderson.
That is all.

I don't think I've read any other books that were set around not only the fighting and revolution but also while smallpox was also raging and how communities were trying to get ahead of it. Although this book was middle grade it did not gloss over the brutality of the disease in any way. This book would be an excellent addition to any history lesson set around the 1770s.

Enjoyable middle school read about Marion, a young girl chosen to serve Madame de Montespan, Louis XIV's favorite.
Marion, daughter of a gardener, is a gifted nose. Her talent for perfume is going to place her in the middle of an intrigue to kill the queen...

I'm so glad I finally made myself read this one! Not only did I fall for all of the below-stairs personalities, I appreciated the great perspective on what it takes to keep the Bennets sisters in clean petticoats and shoe roses. I loved that we got to see glimpses of Lizzy after her marriage, too, and of course some closure for our heroine Sarah. If you've not read it, #PemberLittens, don't wait as long as I did! #JaneAustenThenAndNow

#CoverStories #Stairs @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Kat Holloway,cook extraordinaire,works for an upper echelon family in 1881 London.The eccentric daughter, who loves the freedom that dressing as a man in the night affords her, asks Kat to help her investigate when art & antiquities are stolen from upper class home & her friend is a suspect.Kat‘s possible love interest,Daniel,
an expert in disguise,is also investigating these thefts.What begins as a case of thievery becomes a case of murder.

The sense of foreboding in the slim book was so well done! I worried at every turn of the page. Mary is sent off by her father to work for the Vicar and help take care of his ailing wife. Although the home she left was harsh and full of backbreaking labor she laments the lack of choice she is given. I won‘t lie, this book was bleak but I thought it was really effective. #24in2024

Low end of the pick scale. The stories from White House residence staff were interesting, but Brower was all over the place. My two favorite sections had themes — children in the WH and how residence staff dealt with traumatic events like 9/11 and Kennedy‘s assassination. In many ways, Brower turns the staff members into saints. No staff member ever talks out of turn. All staff members respect and care for the families they serve. Really?