Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes’s Emmy Award-winning PBS show Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has written a transporting story of this fabled home on the brink of war.
Much like her Masterpiece Classic counterpart, Lady Cora Crawley, Lady Almina was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, Alfred de Rothschild, who married his daughter off at a young age, her dowry serving as the crucial link in the effort to preserve the Earl of Carnarvon’s ancestral home. Throwing open the doors of Highclere Castle to tend to the wounded of World War I, Lady Almina distinguished herself as a brave and remarkable woman.
This rich tale contrasts the splendor of Edwardian life in a great house against the backdrop of the First World War and offers an inspiring and revealing picture of the woman at the center of the history of Highclere Castle.
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Sexual Content - 0/5
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Violence - 2/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
Fans of Downton Abbey, will love this book about the real Countess of Carnarvon. With the backing of her father’s fortune, Almina married the Earl of Carnarvon and instantly became one of England’s great hostesses. It’s fascinating to read about her lifestyle and all the money spent to maintain their lifestyle. More interesting; however, was reading about her hospital work during WWI. She basically turned her castle into a hospital and made sure all her patients had the very, very best of care. Her real life story is better than any fiction on TV.
Violence:
It describes some of the battles and horrors of WWI.
Review by Ahna