Central Kansas Library System

She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they always had done, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her… When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs B – a shrewd and tricksy woman in her nineties...

A modern-day homicide detective is working as an undertaker's assistant in Victorian Scotland when a serial poisoner attacks the men of Edinburgh and leaves their widows under suspicion. Edinburgh, 1869: Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson is adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland. Her employers know she's not housemaid Catriona Mitchell-even though Mallory is in Catriona's body-and Mallory is now officially an undertaker's assistant....

Pampered Margaret Macy flees London in disguise to escape pressure to marry a dishonorable man. With no money and nowhere else to go, she takes a position as a housemaid in the home of a suitor she once rejected in hopes of winning his dashing brother. Praying no one will recognize her, Margaret fumbles through the first real work of her life. But can she remain hidden even when prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall?

"Mother of two Liv Green barely scrapes by as a maid to make ends meet, often finding escape in a good book while daydreaming of becoming a writer herself. So she can't believe her luck when she lands a job housekeeping for her personal hero, megabestselling author Essie Starling, a mysterious and intimidating recluse. The last thing Liv expected was to be the only person Essie talks to, which leads to a tenuous friendship. But when Essie dies suddenly,...

"Housemaid Anne Webster will stop at nothing to save her family from their dire circumstances. Even if it means accepting the proposal of the roguish Marquess of Blackthorne, who just returned to England from the Americas under a veil of mystery. Both have their own agendas--she to use his riches and he to use her lace-making skills--but neither could have dreamed what they would discover on the other side of their scheming. As always, society tattler...

From the day she arrives at the Biltmore, Tillie Reese is dazzled - by the riches of the Vanderbilts and by Mack Danvers, a mountain man turned footman. When Tillie is enlisted to help tame Mack's rugged behavior by tutoring him in the ways of refined society, the resulting sparks threaten Tillie's efforts to be chosen as Edith Vanderbilt's lady's maid. But the stakes rise even higher when Mack and Tillie become entangled in a cover-up at the town...

"From the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir comes a new World War II-set story of four women on the home front competing for a spot hosting a BBC wartime cookery program and a chance to better their lives. Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses; the Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio...

Bhima, a domestic servant in the household of Sera Dubash, an upper-class Parsi housewife, develops a bond with her employer over the course of many years as they both suffer through abusive marriages, loss, and disappointments, but their friendship still cannot overcome the restrictions of class and money.

The one thing she can't do is fall in love... at least not if she wants to save her sister. Alejandra Loyola knows she's going to die. If having information about her uncle and cousin's illegal cattle rustling operation isn't enough to get her killed, then snitching on them to the law will surely mean her death--and she's snitched more than once. The only question is, will she be able to see her younger sister provided for before she dies? When successful...