Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey

November 18, 2013
This follow-up to the well-received Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey is an excellent depiction of English aristocratic life, notably of the 6th Earl of Carnarvon and his wife, Lady Catherine, during the years leading up to and during WWII. A "flirtatious and fun" beauty, American-born Catherine Wendell married Lord Porchester, nicknamed Porchey, who became the 6th Earl of Carnarvon after his father, a renowned Egyptologist credited with discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun, died in 1923. Catherine and Porchey partied during the carefree Roaring â20s with other British nobility until the war encroached, bringing air raids, crumbling infrastructure, death and food shortages; their home, Highclere Castle, became a sanctuary for London's young children, and its expansive propertyâa troop training ground. Masterpiece Theater's Downton Abbey is Highclere Castle's fictional "alter ego"; much of the 8th (and current) Countess of Carnarvon's genealogical and historical researchâdiaries, letters, and photographsâis from Highclere's archives, which create a compelling portrait of the era's lives, deaths, politics, scandals and the war's impact on Porchey and Catherine's family. Lady Carnarvon's narrative is a vivid time-stamp of a tempestuous period in history, aptly incorporating its political situation and social structure, to satisfy history buffs and Anglophiles.

October 1, 2013
A second sprightly memoir by a real English countess (after her Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey) delineates her forebear's heyday from the Roaring '20s. The name Lord Carnarvon will be familiar to American readers as the discoverer, along with Howard Carter, of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. Carnarvon's real-life English home, Highclere Castle, became the filming location of the present-day PBS series Downton Abbey, and his class' shenanigans the inspiration for many characters. Carnarvon died shortly after his amazing discovery ("the curse of Tutankhamun"), leaving his 20-something son to inherit the title of Earl of Carnarvon and all the trappings (and debts) of Highclere. In this book, the author takes up the saga of the new earl, Lord Porchester, "Porchey," a high-living sportive type, and his new bride, Catherine Wendell, a vivacious, American-born young woman who had been brought up in England after her father's death when she was 12. Enormously wealthy and well-connected, the couple had two children during the 1920s yet grew alienated as a result of Porchey's womanizing and divorced in 1936, just as another aristocratic scandal, involving the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, erupted. Porchey never had much luck finding a suitable replacement for Lady Carnarvon, while Catherine remarried happily yet lost her second husband when he was killed during the war. The author, the present Countess of Carnarvon, digs into the archives with relish for a lively sense of how the glamorous old houses were run, both upstairs and downstairs. Although her tone is rather gushing, her familiarity with this romantic era between the wars lends a winning accessibility for all readers. Gossipy and fun, with a good history lesson--sure to delight Downton Abbey fans.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2013

Having introduced the historical counterpart to Lady Cora Crawley in her Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, the current (eighth) Countess of Carnarvon continues her history of some of the inhabitants of Highclere Castle, the estate that stars as Downton Abbey in the popular series. Here readers learn about Almina's daughter-in-law, Catherine Wendell (d. 1977), the sixth countess. The narrative can feel unreliable at times because the author occasionally sprinkles in bits of dialog and hypothesized emotions, which allows for smoother transitions among the paragraphs of historical research, but seasoned readers may find these enhancements superfluous. With so much claimed archival material for the author to work from, her book should have offered more photographs of the family and other visual aids to enhance the story. Despite these flaws, the countess seamlessly weaves her home into the bigger historical picture through Highclere's revolving door of impressive guests of the time, from King Edward VIII to Gen. George Patton. Considering the long honored British tradition of primogeniture, it's refreshing to see Catherine as the focus here, rather than her husband the count. VERDICT This easily digestible history will delight fans of the beloved BBC/PBS series, serving up as much drama and intrigue as the fictional Crawley family.--Kate DiGirolomo, Library Journal

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.