Giles Waterford’s ‘Markham Thorpe’ is a delightful period tale of life upstairs and downstairs in a declining country manor. Set in Yorkshire and reminiscent of ‘Gosford Park’, it seems at times like a battle of wills between servants and their (so-called) masters. When a young, naive girl, Ellen Braithwaite, joins her sister Agnes and distant cousin Mrs Rundell to work at Markham Thorpe, it becomes clear that Rundell, the formidable housekeeper, controls and manipulates the household. She has her sights set on becoming the new lady of the house by marrying Sir Richard and is determined that nobody will stand in her way. Her scheming even includes an unknowing Ellen marrying James, the next heir, to ensure the family line continues.
Waterford’s lively, amusing portrait encourages readerly empathy with characters like Miss Fisher, the cerebral governess driven to taking desperate, drastic action; Agnes, who opts for life as a mistress as a way out of service; and Rundell, for whom it’s hard not to feel sorry when she eventually gets her comeuppance. The book is bursting with detail, and the tone is clear and engaging. At the end, the reader is left with one niggling question to ponder: how far should you go to better yourself?
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