Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict.

Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict. Sourcebooks Landmark, to be published January, 2018. Adult historical fiction.


Clara Kelley, a poor Irish girl, manages to take the identity of another girl and becomes a maid in the household of Andrew Carnegie, his brother, and his mother in Pittsburgh. She is clever, but terrified of being discovered and sent away. Her family depends on her income and Clara is well acquainted with poor people, poverty, and the differences in her new lifestyle and her old one. The book is truly historical fiction and really does not shed much new about Andrew Carnegie, but those who like to think of "what might have been" may surmise that Clara's influence spurred Carnegie to become the great philanthropist that he was. Benedict excels at descriptions of people and places of the past and weaves an interesting tale. This advanced reader edition did not have backmatter that might have told the truth vs. the fiction about the story.  See also The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict for another historical fiction novel by the same author.