Minding the Manor

The Memoir of a 1930s English Kitchen Maid

By: Mollie Moran

Narrated by: Veida Dehmlow

Mollie Moran is one of the few people alive today who can recall working "downstairs" in the early 1930s before the outbreak of World War II. In Minding the Manor, she provides a rare and fascinating insight into a world that has long since vanished.

Mollie left school at age fourteen and became a scullery maid for a wealthy gentleman with a mansion house in London's Knightsbridge and a Tudor manor in Norfolk. Even though her days were long and grueling and included such endless tasks as polishing doorknobs, scrubbing steps, and helping with all of the food prep in the kitchen, Mollie enjoyed her freedom and had a rich life. Like any bright-eyed teenager, Mollie also spent her days daydreaming about boys, dresses, and dances. She cherished her friendship with Flo, the kitchen maid, dated a sweet farmhand, and became secretly involved with a brooding and temperamental footman. Molly eventually rose to kitchen maid and then became cook for the Earl of Leicester's niece at the magnificent Wallington Hall.

©2014 Mollie Moran (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

If you love Downton, this is right up your street! ( Closer)

A great listen.

If you could sum up Minding the Manor in three words, what would they be?

A great listen. High school aged kids should listen and write a reflection on this. It would be hard to imagine kids today entering domestic service.

Veida Dehmlow perfect narrator

Ms. Dehmlow captures the wicked humor and sparkling descriptions of Mollie's amazing life to a T!

This was a joy to listen to

It went much to fast. I know I will listen to it again one day.

Mollie Moran!!!!

What an awesomely narrated book! It felt like I was there with Mollie or better yet, Mrs. Moran. What an adventurous LIFE! God bless her and her family...

Fantastic

I loved listening to this book
As if someone familiar, Like a relative, was telling me a story of her past. I couldn't stop listening:)