Enid Elliot Linder was the daughter of a butler and a lady’s maid in service in some of England’s grandest country houses. Evoking the lost world of a childhood ‘below stairs’, Linder’s touching memoir describes how her life changed as Britain headed towards war.

After the family moved to a Marylebone tenement, her father sought work in London restaurants whilst battling personal demons. Meanwhile Linder’s aunt was nanny to a high-ranking member of the British Union of Fascists as they grew in influence.

In a photorealistic and immensely charming narrative reminiscent of Patrick Hamilton, Linder evokes the sights and smells of prewar London – and of lonely Cornwall, to where she was unhappily evacuated – in a way that will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey. A unique personal account of a tumultuous time.