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nic_fish's review
4.0
I enjoyed the book and recommend it to Downton Abbey fans. Obviously the writers of the show have taken actual historic events from the lives of Highclere residents for the show. I am not much of a non-fiction reader but thoroughly enjoyed the book and photos.
melanie_books's review
4.0
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey is a fascinating look at Almina Womball, an heiress of uncertain parentage who married the Earl of Carnarvon, the “owner” of Highclere Castle. Almina’s life was fascinating: She not only played host royalty, explorers, artists, and others but also hosted (and nursed) wounded soldiers during the Great War. She encouraged her husband as he searched for, and eventually found, treasures in Egypt all while running the large household she married into.
The boon is well-written with lots of interesting history and information about Almina and her family. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves old houses, interesting historical figures, or Downton Abbey.
The boon is well-written with lots of interesting history and information about Almina and her family. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves old houses, interesting historical figures, or Downton Abbey.
teklagyorgy's review against another edition
4.0
Összességében tetszett a könyv. Tetszett Highclere mindennpjainak bemutatása, hogy nemcsak az úr és az úrnő, de a szolgálók napjairól is szó esett. Almina is szimpatikus volt, amikor már látta, hogy a háború elkerülhetetlen, akkor azonnal intézkedett Highclere kórházzá alakításának ügyében. Ezzel pedig rengeteg embert megmentve, elősegítve a gyóyulásukat.
Olvasás közben viszont néha abszurdnak hatott a nő viszonya a pénzzel. Egy-két hét alatt elköltött 10-20 ezer fontot, mely átszámolva mai árfolyamra, több százmillió forintnak felelne meg. Amikor felbukkant az apjánál, hogy többet kérjen, az kicsit megcsóválta a fejét, hogy na de Almina, majd írta a következő csekket. Lord Carnarvon több mint 50 ezer fontot fordított az egyiptomi ásatásra, ez szerepel a könyvben, mai árfolyamon körülbelül négymilliárd forintnak felelne meg. Eközben egy átlagos szolga éves bére 12, míg a szakácsnő éves bére 25 font volt a kastényban.
Ettől függetlenül a könyvben nagyon szépen kirajzolódik, hogy arisztokrácia és pénz ide vagy oda, ezeket az embereket is súlytották betegségek, veszteség, gyász. Tulajdonképpen a mai időszak milliárdosai, billiárdosainak életvitelét hiába bíráljuk (lásd Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, stb.), ez az élet- és létforma nem újkeletű, csak a krtársaink vannak szem előtt, nem a 20. század arisztokratái.
Bővebben: https://www.gyorgytekla.hu/2022/01/carnarvon-grofneja-lady-almina-es-a-valodi-downton-abbey/
Olvasás közben viszont néha abszurdnak hatott a nő viszonya a pénzzel. Egy-két hét alatt elköltött 10-20 ezer fontot, mely átszámolva mai árfolyamra, több százmillió forintnak felelne meg. Amikor felbukkant az apjánál, hogy többet kérjen, az kicsit megcsóválta a fejét, hogy na de Almina, majd írta a következő csekket. Lord Carnarvon több mint 50 ezer fontot fordított az egyiptomi ásatásra, ez szerepel a könyvben, mai árfolyamon körülbelül négymilliárd forintnak felelne meg. Eközben egy átlagos szolga éves bére 12, míg a szakácsnő éves bére 25 font volt a kastényban.
Ettől függetlenül a könyvben nagyon szépen kirajzolódik, hogy arisztokrácia és pénz ide vagy oda, ezeket az embereket is súlytották betegségek, veszteség, gyász. Tulajdonképpen a mai időszak milliárdosai, billiárdosainak életvitelét hiába bíráljuk (lásd Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, stb.), ez az élet- és létforma nem újkeletű, csak a krtársaink vannak szem előtt, nem a 20. század arisztokratái.
Bővebben: https://www.gyorgytekla.hu/2022/01/carnarvon-grofneja-lady-almina-es-a-valodi-downton-abbey/
meme_too2's review
3.0
Lady Almina sounded like a wonderful person. She spent the last part of her life carrying out her "hobby" of nursing and caring for others. But the last half of the book got into some heavy detail about the fighting in WWI and how it changed England. Great detailed research, but a little too much detailed research.
heroineinabook's review
3.0
As a publicized tie-in to DOWNTON ABBEY, this book was styled as providing a historical account of Highclere Castle (setting of DOWNTON ABBEY), its inhabitants, and the style of the Edwardian era. Written by the current Countess of Carnarvon, LADY ALMINA gives an insiders view into a world seldomly seen, but thanks to Julian Fellowes, is now becoming a rich area history of interest.
Written in a chatty and breezy tone, the book concentrates heavily on Lady Almina, her works and family and less on inner workings of HIghclere itself. While the book blurbs surely did not stray from the fact this was more of a biography of a person rather then the period, the title does indicate it's about the "Real Downton Abbey," which seems sort of misleading since we learn less of about the castle and more about all of Lady Almina's BFFs. Much of the burgeoning interest in Highclere castle and other grand country homes of the period, has more to do with the world of the time (upstairs/downstairs, class differences, etc) rather then a specific person or family. Edwardian history is a fascinating precisely because it is literally the turning point of the modern age. Electricity, motor cars, airplanes, home phones, radio (in 1920) make huge changes to how we live/work/play and the current Countess of Carnarvon writes more of a society page update rather then a historical account.
It's not necessarily a bad book, for thanks to Lady Almina and her ways, holistic nursing, egyptology, and treatment of servants all took huge leaps forward. But I grew bored with the social register name check and who's who from Burke's Peerage and I felt given the tile of the book, more would be spent on history of the castle and less on who ate/slept where and when.
[As Countess of Carnarvon mentions several times Highclere has an archivist, which is fantastic (who would have thunk a future career possibility is librarian/archivist for a country house?) but a shame as there could have been more depth then fluff to the work. Given the history of the castle, the area, and the people, now THAT would make a fascinating book.]
Written in a chatty and breezy tone, the book concentrates heavily on Lady Almina, her works and family and less on inner workings of HIghclere itself. While the book blurbs surely did not stray from the fact this was more of a biography of a person rather then the period, the title does indicate it's about the "Real Downton Abbey," which seems sort of misleading since we learn less of about the castle and more about all of Lady Almina's BFFs. Much of the burgeoning interest in Highclere castle and other grand country homes of the period, has more to do with the world of the time (upstairs/downstairs, class differences, etc) rather then a specific person or family. Edwardian history is a fascinating precisely because it is literally the turning point of the modern age. Electricity, motor cars, airplanes, home phones, radio (in 1920) make huge changes to how we live/work/play and the current Countess of Carnarvon writes more of a society page update rather then a historical account.
It's not necessarily a bad book, for thanks to Lady Almina and her ways, holistic nursing, egyptology, and treatment of servants all took huge leaps forward. But I grew bored with the social register name check and who's who from Burke's Peerage and I felt given the tile of the book, more would be spent on history of the castle and less on who ate/slept where and when.
[As Countess of Carnarvon mentions several times Highclere has an archivist, which is fantastic (who would have thunk a future career possibility is librarian/archivist for a country house?) but a shame as there could have been more depth then fluff to the work. Given the history of the castle, the area, and the people, now THAT would make a fascinating book.]
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Fascinating story of Lady Almina and her role as the Countess of Carnarvon. I enjoyed reading about the house and the family. I found the war sections really interesting and I also enjoyed the sections on Egypt. It was a bit dry at times and there were a lot of names to keep track of but it didn’t deter from the overall enjoyment!
I recommend watching “Secrets of Highclere Castle” (PBS, 2012) as a companion to this book!
Fascinating story of Lady Almina and her role as the Countess of Carnarvon. I enjoyed reading about the house and the family. I found the war sections really interesting and I also enjoyed the sections on Egypt. It was a bit dry at times and there were a lot of names to keep track of but it didn’t deter from the overall enjoyment!
I recommend watching “Secrets of Highclere Castle” (PBS, 2012) as a companion to this book!
soniapage's review
3.0
I almost set this book aside after the first few chapters. It read too much like boring society pages and the extravagance was almost obscene. However, I stuck it out and got more interested when the downstairs staff was introduced. A large part of the book covers Almina's charitable work when she turned the Castle into a hospital for soldiers during WWI and also covers Lord Carnarvon's work in Egypt up to his sad death after the finding of King Tut's burial site.
The book was written by the current Countess of Carnarvon so is naturally a favorable account of the family.
The book was written by the current Countess of Carnarvon so is naturally a favorable account of the family.
juliasilge's review
3.0
I'm a big fan of Downton Abbey and I found this a quite fun and interesting read. I had no idea that so much of the television show was based in real history; the castle that is used for the exterior shots was actually used as a hospital during World War I, etc. This book is written by the current Countess of Carnarvon at Highclere Castle so this is not some hard-hitting critical history; I get the impression there was quite a bit left out that they maybe didn't want to talk about, especially about Lady Almina's decades of life after the death of her first husband? Anyway, enjoyable and interesting.