Nineteen year old Clara Kelly's ship is in. Her family's farm
suffered a potato famine in Galway, Ireland, and she, a farm
girl, educated by her father, is sent to America. She
must find a job and send her earnings home to help with
their dire financial situation. After 42 miserable days
in steerage, she is just off the boat where many of the
passengers became ill and some perished. Wondering what
she will do, she hears her name called. A well dressed
gentlemen, wearing a black bowler, approaches her and asks,
"Are you Clara Kelly just arrived aboard The Envoy?"
Knowing no one and having no employment prospects, thinking
quickly, she replies in the affirmative. He takes her to a
waiting carriage and they depart for Pittsburgh. She meets
Mrs. Seeley, head of an employment agency, and after many
falsehoods and exaggerations Clara convinces her she has
experience as a ladies maid. After an interview with super-
wealthy Mrs. Carnegie, Clara again with a bit of ingenuity
and more untruths is offered the job as her ladies maid.
Living in the Carnegie household, Mrs. Carnegie has two
sons, Tom and Andrew, and many servants. Quickly Clara
learns how to care for her mistress and plans to
become indispensable. She is sending money home to her
distressed parents and hoping to make enough money to
someday send for them. She sneaks into the library and
selects books to help her become a better ladies maid. One
afternoon Andrew comes in and they begin to talk about their
mutual love of books.
Andrew came as an immigrant from Scotland and is building an
empire with iron and steel. A romance between Andrew and Clara
develops, but there is no way for them to be together because
of their difference in class. Clara is let go when Mrs.
Carnegie discovers her past and her attachment to her son.
Marie Benedict is a sterling story teller who did intensive
research on her historical novel set in Pittsburgh and New
York City in 1863. She intricately weaves a story of a
Carnegie maid and her relationship with the eldest son,
Andrew Carnegie. Both immigrants, Carnegie becomes the
richest man in America while his philanthropic endeavors
include his concept of a free library for everyone
especially the poorer class to read any books to aid in
their betterment. This is a tribute to libraries, books,
and the love of learning. I, an avid reader,
give sincere thanks to this man who made fortunes, but made
it possible for everyone, no matter your station in life, to
go to any library free and read books.
CARNEGIE'S MAID is a bittersweet tale about an ambitious
industrialist and a bright woman who becomes a ladies maid
and both go on to accomplish great things in their life. It
is an interesting era filled with descriptions of lavish
train travel and fabulous hotels in New York City. A must
read for those who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of
romance like me.
From the author of The Other Einstein, the mesmerizing
tale of what kind of woman could have inspired an
American dynasty.
Clara Kelley is not who they think she is. She's not the
experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of
Pittsburgh's grandest households. She's a poor farmer's
daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets.
But the other woman with the same name has vanished, and
pretending to be her just might get Clara some money to
send back home.
If she can keep up the ruse, that is. Serving as a lady's
maid in the household of Andrew Carnegie requires skills
he doesn't have, answering to an icy mistress who rules
her sons and her domain with an iron fist. What Clara
does have is a resolve as strong as the steel Pittsburgh
is becoming famous for, coupled with an uncanny
understanding of business, and Andrew begins to rely on
her. But Clara can't let her guard down, not even when
Andrew becomes something more than an employer. Revealing
her past might ruin her future -- and her family's.
With captivating insight and heart, Carnegie's Maid tells
the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred
Andrew Carnegie's transformation from ruthless
industrialist into the world's first true
philanthropist..
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