To Marry an English Lord

By: Gail MacColl, Carol McD. Wallace

Narrated by: Kate Reading

From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles - just like Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, the first of the Downton Abbey characters Julian Fellowes was inspired to create after reading To Marry An English Lord. Filled with vivid personalities, gossipy anecdotes, grand houses, and a wealth of period details-plus quotes and the finer points of Victorian and Edwardian etiquette - To Marry An English Lord is social history at its liveliest and most accessible.

©1989, 2012 Gail MacColl & Carol McD. Wallace (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"In your very flattering article about books that might please fans of Downton Abbey, I was sorry that one title was missing: To Marry an English Lord.... It is a marvelous and entertaining study." (Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of Downton Abbey)

better than expected

if you're interested in Edwardian history between England and the US you'll find this book rather interesting

fascinating

a lot of it really interesting information and juicy gossip about a fascinating time in history

Loved it

I loved it, learning about the Gilded Age is fun. This book gives a lot of knowledge she was well researched.

Perhaps its true, money does not equal happiness

This is an interesting list of facts about young wealthy young American women who traded their wealth for social status and a British title. Later the young men who owned those titles but whose estates no longer supported them came to America hoping to meet these young women. But it is just a list of who did what when and superficially why.

Downton Abbey script idea

Enjoyed the book. It fleshed out the English/American marriage phenomenon and many DA script highlights used by Julian Fellows.

Of Course it’s non-fiction

This is very interesting. I see a few one star reviews because people don’t seem to have understood it is supposed to be a nonfiction book. comparing it to Downton Abbey is weird, because this is not fiction. Anyway, it was fascinating, and the narration was fantastic.

An interesting take

I really enjoyed this audiobook! This was a subject I didn’t know much about, and the writing was humorous and accessible. The narrator did a nice job, although it was initially jarring to realize she reads all the subheadings. That made it a little more difficult to navigate, especially for sections that were just lists. Beyond that, she did a great job. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the late 19th/early 20th century history.

Eye opening book.

This book is a manual for understanding Churchill's life and his financial opportunities.
Namely it is a key to book "No More Champagne".
Also it reveals mating rituals of Britain upper crust. So much I needed to know.
Now I will reed "Pride and Prejudice" again, this time with little more inside.
Love wit and intelligence of narrator Kate Reading and her ability to shear the love of era.
PL

It was a very pleasant surprise

When I first heard about this book, I pictured the American heiress as a shy, socially awkward and insecure girl, mesmerized by European culture and trying to keep up with the pace of her new home, missing the tranquility and calmness of her rural home. Let's just say I was very wrong.
The American girl was spontaneous, fun, outgoing... Basically the soul of the party and the British, excluding those residing in London, lived in very bucolic areas, which came out as a surprise for those girls, who'd only discover so after the wedding.
The contrast between the American and the British society plus the disappointment of the heiresses motivated some of the societal changes that shaped our culture as we know.
The only thing I dislike about the book is how the information was structured; it could have been way more pleasant if it was disposed in a more organized fashion. Sometimes you can't really see a connection between the first and the last section and until the author puts these pieces together, you try to absorb as much as you can but fail to identify what's really important. Only on a second look it is possible to realize "oh, the book is going to focus a lot on that, that and that person. Let me pay attention so I'll remember the details and be able to picture the story". It's not going to prevent you from enjoying the book, but the book could have been much more enjoyable.

interesting but scattered

Enjoyable but scattered facts. Wanted more structure and less speculation. Still a nice listening entertainment.