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Title details for Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon - Available

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle

by The Countess of Carnarvon
Wanda McCaddon
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available
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, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants: Lady Almina, the fifth 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 5, 2012

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781452626840
      • File size: 215161 KB
      • Duration: 07:28:15

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Still going through withdrawal from the engrossing "Downton Abbey" series? Missing the estate and its people? Re-enter this world by exploring Highclere Castle and Lady Almina, the real-life inspiration for the series. The book begins with the marriage of the moneyed, albeit untitled, Lady Almina, daughter of industrialist Alfred de Rothschild, to Lord Carnavon, whose fortune is being diminished by his financially consuming lifestyle. Wanda McCaddon invites listeners into the Countess of Carnarvon's breezy book, which blends a wealth of archival letters, diaries, and photographs. McCaddon sweeps through the transitions between the downstairs servants and the socially elite, details of furniture and costumes, as well as the changes that come with WWI. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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