Gail MacColl (1954–2020)

This book, a cultural history of American heiress marrying English Lords, is just plain fun and fascinating. The Kindle version is currently on sale in the US, but To Marry an English Lord is so lavishly illustrated with photos and drawings on every page that I can’t imagine reading an ebook copy.

By the late 1800’s--early 1900’s there was a growing number of young ladies in the US who had lots of family money, but who couldn’t break into proper American “Society” because being show more nouveau riche they had no social status. At the same time across the Atlantic noble British families were having trouble paying for the upkeep and modernization of their estates--which is understandable since it wasn’t considered proper for the aristocracy to work--so marriage between the two groups made sense, but whoa! The culture shock! All of which is entertainingly recounted in this book.

After growing up in a fancy, almost palace-like mansion the American heiress often started married life in her British husband’s dark, deteriorating ancestral manor without indoor plumbing. The large (and very interesting) contrasts in attitudes about married life, gender roles, infidelity, money, servants, and politics further complicated her assimilation into her new life. There were a variety of ways to cope and the book delves into the personal stories of many of the women, including Jennie Jerome Churchill (mother of Winston) and Consuelo Vanderbilt.

To Marry an English Lord makes lively use of its rich historical material and is full of fruitful background information for further enjoying fiction and film. Edith Wharton and Henry James used the Victorian-Edwardian era tension between British and American customs in their novels and Julian Fellows, the creator of Downton Abbey, says this book inspired the Cora character in that series. show less

Picked this up because it is reportedly the inspiration behind Downton Abbey.

From an historical perspective, it was interesting to read how the American rich went about buying European titles for their daughters. But none of the recounted stories went particularly deep into anything other than the societal “warfare” and strategies for winning.

From a modern perspective ... ick. It felt more like breeding dogs or race horses. I’m not sure who most resembled prostitutes: the mothers and show more daughters marketing themselves for a title or the English lords trading their titles for money to maintain their lifestyles. I have to wonder if the English system of nobility wouldn’t have collapsed a century ago but for the infusion of cash and fresh blood the heiresses brought into the mix.

All in all, it leaves me glad to be living in the times and economic status I do; and makes me feel rather sorry for “the ruling class” that lived to see their empire begin to fall apart.

Most of my sympathy is reserved for the American industrialists who got to see their hard-earned wealth blown through by extravagantly spending wives, over-indulged daughters, and essentially useless sons-in-law. show less

One of the slew of books related to Downton Abbey to be released after the show's success, in this case, the book is a re-release of a 1989 non-fiction book, which (much to the publisher's delight)has a cover blurb from Julian Fellows, creator of Downton Abbey himself. To further drive the point home, the cover also bears the words: "An inspiration for the popular Television Series Downton Abbey."

But for all the purported connection the part of the plot most literally inspired by the book - show more the marriage between American heiress Cora and impoverished peer Lord Grantham - takes place some nineteen years prior to the first episode of the show. The book actually covers the period from about 1871 to 1910, which means that the ends just between the timeline of the show begins.

That said, I'm glad that the Downton Abbey craze lead to this book being republished, because regardless of how relatively tenuous the connection to the show is, it's a fabulous book. The writing is exciting, and not at all dry; the authors are capable of capturing all sorts of interesting personalities, and most of all, it's incredibly comprehensive. I wouldn't be surprised if the book had also inspired numerous historical fiction writers, because it covers every single detail of the time period you'd ever need. The main narrative, which details the trend of American heiresses marrying impoverished English peers for their titles is split up by two-page spreads and inserts giving detailed information on the social mores of the time, the differences between American and British society, biographies of various important people, overviews of the types of heiress hunting swains, and New York fathers, timetables for sojourns in Newport, the staff of an English manor, lists of everything from prerequisites for an American heiresses London campaign to how to keep the Prince happy at a 'Friday to Sunday' house party, and of course, a lot of photographs of gorgeous heiresses and handsome peers.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. The only bad thing is that it made me want a Downton Abbey prequel... show less

One of the slew of books related to Downton Abbey to be released after the show's success, in this case, the book is a re-release of a 1989 non-fiction book, which (much to the publisher's delight)has a cover blurb from Julian Fellows, creator of Downton Abbey himself. To further drive the point home, the cover also bears the words: "An inspiration for the popular Television Series Downton Abbey."

But for all the purported connection the part of the plot most literally inspired by the book - show more the marriage between American heiress Cora and impoverished peer Lord Grantham - takes place some nineteen years prior to the first episode of the show. The book actually covers the period from about 1871 to 1910, which means that the ends just between the timeline of the show begins.

That said, I'm glad that the Downton Abbey craze lead to this book being republished, because regardless of how relatively tenuous the connection to the show is, it's a fabulous book. The writing is exciting, and not at all dry; the authors are capable of capturing all sorts of interesting personalities, and most of all, it's incredibly comprehensive. I wouldn't be surprised if the book had also inspired numerous historical fiction writers, because it covers every single detail of the time period you'd ever need. The main narrative, which details the trend of American heiresses marrying impoverished English peers for their titles is split up by two-page spreads and inserts giving detailed information on the social mores of the time, the differences between American and British society, biographies of various important people, overviews of the types of heiress hunting swains, and New York fathers, timetables for sojourns in Newport, the staff of an English manor, lists of everything from prerequisites for an American heiresses London campaign to how to keep the Prince happy at a 'Friday to Sunday' house party, and of course, a lot of photographs of gorgeous heiresses and handsome peers.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. The only bad thing is that it made me want a Downton Abbey prequel... show less