THE lid is being lifted on what life was really like for domestic servants in a new book by a Stourbridge author.

Servants’ Stories – by Amblecote writer Michelle Higgs – aims to dispel the myth that servants only worked in large country houses like those seen in the fictional Downton Abbey.

Michelle’s book – her eighth to feature social history – is a collection of 21 true tales of domestic service between 1800 and 1950, which have been told from the servants’ point of view.

Three years in the making, the book’s stories come from unpublished or out of print memoirs, diaries and oral histories, as well as interviews with ex-servants carried out by Michelle.

The 43-year-old, of Vale Street, said: “People are still fascinated with what life was like for servants below stairs.

“I love Downton Abbey but it does suggest to viewers that servants only worked in country houses, which is simply not true.

“I hope this book will put the record straight and celebrate these unsung heroes and heroines whose grit and determination shine through.”

Each story is written in the servants’ own words, with readers discovering more about the servant who got revenge on her mistress with a box of beetles, the housemaid who became a suffragette and trade unionist, and the cook who escaped an abusive home life by going into service, despite being partially disabled.

Servants’ Stories: Life Below Stairs in their Own Words 1800-1950, is priced at £12.99 and is available at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Servants-Stories-Paperback/p/10954