Carnegie's Maid, by Marie Benedict

Real people and events

Fictional

Andrew Carnegie Margaret Carnegie – mother Tom – younger brother Father - deceased Family came to Pittsburgh when Andrew was 12, impoverished Andrew started as telegrapher and invested in businesses Document written on 12-23-1868 by Andrew regarding life’s path Andrew was drafted to fight in Civil War but paid for replacement Col. James Anderson – opened personal library to young men on Saturday evenings Edgar Thompson Mrs.  Pitcarin Harry Phipps John Vandevort Tom Miller - Cyclops Iron Co Iron City Forge – Tom Carnegie William Coleman – iron manufacturing Lucy – daughter, married Tom

Galway: Clara Kelly Father and Mother Eliza – older sister Cecelia – younger sister Mrs. Seeley Mr. Ford – cook, former slave Ruth wife; Mabel, daughter Mr. Holyrod – Butler Mrs. Stewart – housekeeper Hilda – maid Clara’s relatives in Slab Town: Patrick Lamb Maeve Children Miss Atkinson Miss Carlyle – nurse to Mrs. Carnegie in New York

FoDiscussion

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. What did you think about Mrs. Carnegie and her insecurities?   Also discuss her treatment of Clara, demeaning her in public but asking for her opinion in private.
2. At one point Andrew and Clara were in the Fairfield parlor and Andrew said the parlor was “actually meant to be read like a book, with each object functioning like a word in a story” (page 142).  Clara realized that “[t]he ‘book’ about Fairfield was like the narrative of his life Mrs. Carnegie was crafting” (page 143).  He then proceeded to tell her what they hoped each guest would think about the Carnegie’s as they looked around the room.  How would someone “read” the rooms in your house?
3. Discuss what happened when Mrs. Carnegie and Andrew went to New York and were not welcomed into the society there.  Given that Clara knew more because of what she learned listening to the servants, do you think she should have given more advice regarding such things as sleeve length?
4. What did you think when Clara told Andrew that “New York society folk…invent ways to distinguish themselves from the rest of the citizenry” (page 227)?
5. When Clara challenged Andrew about his desire to be accepted by the New York society, he answered that his reason was because “It is a challenge” (page 229).  Do you believe this was his reason when in the past he proclaimed that he “loved the American ethos of equality and the ability to rise about your born station” (page 229)?   Was this desire to be accepted by the New York society out of character for him?
6. Was it fair of Andrew to want to continue to talk with Clara as an equal?
7. Clara’s father continued to support the Fenian movement at the risk of losing the family’s plot of land.   Was he justified in these actions and was Clara justified in being angry with him?
8. When Iron City merged with Cyclops to form Union Iron Company, Patrick Lamb and many others lost their jobs while Andrew benefited.  Was this Andrew’s responsibility or concern?
9. When Mr. Ford said goodbye to Clara, she said it was her fault she had to leave because she was “pretending to be someone I am not” (page 265).  Mr. Ford replied, “If that was a crime, we’d all be in jail, Miss Kelley.  We are all pretending in this life. One way of another” (page 265).  Do you think this is true?  Who was pretending to be something they were not in this novel?
10. What is the responsibility of the historical fiction writer to the reader and to the historical figures when building a story around real events and real people?  What, if any, is the responsibility of the reader?

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First Semester Success, 2nd edition, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and a hard copy from wordassociation.com.