'Doing' for the helplessly affluent

Book cover of To Hell with Poverty by Rodney Laredo. Photo / Supplied

Rodney Laredo is a self-confessed Anglophile who knew, from the very first time he sailed to England as a 21-year-old, that the "Mother Country" would keep calling him back. Newly married in the 1980s, Rodney took his wife, Alethea, to England in the hope she would share his passion for the land of their ancestors.

Armed with little more than enthusiasm, intrepid spirits and Kiwi ingenuity, the hard-working pair set about searching for work as "a couple", essentially looking after wealthy people incapable of looking after themselves. Despite their complete lack of experience, after a few amusingly awkward interviews, it wasn't long before they found the perfect position at a whopping great pile known as Chantborough Court. Once ensconced in the charming staff cottage within the estate, they set about overseeing daily life for their loaded employers.

Harbouring a deeply ingrained fondness for Britain's architecture, design and countryside, not to mention the colourful characters to be found there, Laredo kept an almost daily journal he filled with observations on his travels and experiences.

Needless to say, life at the "big house" provided plenty of grist for his diary-keeping mill.

During the course of the book, the couple spend a full year at Chantborough Court. Day to day they manage the household's four gardeners, various dailies, appointment diaries, not to mention coping with the whims of a posh, privileged couple (and their guests) who've never had to do much of anything for themselves. Merely walking the family's five dogs appeared to be a full-time job. Although, that said, the couple didn't have to manage a cook, on account of the mistress seeing cooking as a bit of a "hobby", as she liked to refer to it.

Throw in a fair amount of family friction, a good dose of village gossip, a scattering of historical gems and To Hell With Poverty is like peering through the keyhole into a rarefied world.

Bearing in mind that discretion is everything when working for British toffs, or extremely wealthy people anywhere, it was tricky to fathom how much of To Hell With Poverty was true. As I read, I kept imagining the lady of the house, all the way across the other side of the world, getting her hands on a copy of the book. Sitting in her elegant study, she'd read all these personal details about her life, her marriage and her children. To say she'd be outraged would be an understatement. It was a relief at book's end to find an Author's Note, that stated, "Although based on real life experiences, some names and events have been changed or created to protect privacy. Also, identifying traits of certain characters and places are of a composite nature. Any resemblance between those portrayed herein and real people living or dead is purely coincidental." Phew.

So, rather than a memoir per se, this book is more of a novelisation plucked from the author's extensive diaries, created over several excursions to England, which is perhaps the reason it feels rather dated at times. But that's a minor quibble.

Armed with a descriptive eye and a lively style,

To Hell With Poverty

will appeal to fans of

Downton Abbey

and

Upstairs Downstairs

and may inspire a new generation of practical couples to head for Britain to try their luck "doing" for the helplessly affluent.

To Hell With Poverty
by Rodney Laredo
(Caxton Press $34.95)

- Canvas