The Hired Girl

Who could blame young Joan Skraggs from Pennsylvania for wanting a better life than the one she has toiling on the farm and taking orders from a mean spirited father?  So off she goes to work as a servant in a wealthy home.  Based on a real life diary this book hints at the women’s movement and the common questions of religious faith and doubt.  Her fierce courage to strike out on her own at a time when women were too controlled to do so will make her your hero too.  Thanks to Downtown Abbey I am now incredibly curious of how the world worked in the 1910s and 1920s, so it is highly recommended for anyone interested in reading about domestic service during that era.