I was intrigued to read Benedict's last work, but didn't know if I would be interested enough to dig in. After reading this work, I am more than willing to go back. The reader is drawn in almost immediately by reading part of the story through Carnegie's viewpoint, something that made the reader interested in the premise but also invested in the characters. I found the perspective of Clara Kelly and her tale normal in the maid/mistress relationship, but she was more than that. I also really enjoyed getting to learn about Pittsburgh from this historical perspective and the different parts and pieces of it. Of course, the suspense of the will they/won't they relationship between Clara and Carnegie was the driving plot point. I am actually very glad that Benedict didn't try to skew history and make more happen then actually did. Overall, I found this highly entertaining, well written and would recommend it to any fan of libraries, historical fiction and strong narratives.

It was a beautiful book. Very well written and a compelling read. A thorough character development is seen. Keeps you interested throughout.

It was empowering to see this take on an immigrant's story and share how this woman was able to actually take control of her life. I loved getting to see Clara learn from Carnegie, but also teach him as well. It's an important and relevant story for right now to see how important immigrants were (both in the upper and lower echelons) in building today's society.

Carnegie’s Maid is beautifully written with descriptive imagery that transports the reader back in time to the setting. The sights and sounds and the mores of the era are masterfully detailed and authentic. The characterizations are also true and engaging. The characters voices are authentic and engaging. This is a delightful read, seemingly well searched; extremely interesting and informative! I love historical fiction, and Marie Benedict has masterfully crafted two outstanding books in this genre!

"He had vowed to her that he would carve out a different path from those materialistic industrialists and society folk, and he would keep that vow, even though she was gone."

Clara Kelley is in America as a source of income to help her family in Ireland.  Expecting to work in the textile mills or as a domestic when she arrives, fate (in the form of a misunderstanding) changes her path to become a lady's maid for the matriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  An occupation she knows nothing about, but fortunately, Clara is intuitive and intelligent and learns as she goes without anyone catching on.

Then Clara meets Andrew Carnegie, steel tycoon, eldest and favored son of her mistress.  His intellect and charm are attractive, but his ruthlessness and elitist ideals are not.  However, Clara's sense of justice and hunger for knowledge about his business change Mr. Carnegie for the better.   Is Clara the catalyst for his philanthropy endeavors?

I enjoy historical fiction and Ms. Benedict gives the reader a "research-based fictional story" that contemplates what if a lady's maid like Clara inspired Andrew Carnegie, known for his callous treatment of others, to suddenly become the world's first philanthropist building free libraries around the world for all classes to educate themselves.  This book also contains subjects such as class distinction, slavery and post-Civil War industry.

This is an interesting take on the personal life of Andrew Carnegie told from a maid's perspective, and I really enjoyed the history of Pittsburgh and the historical fashion and etiquette between servant and master.  This story made me want to read more about Andrew Carnegie.  This novel will appeal to readers who like historical romances set in mid to late 19th-Century America.

Thank you to Ms. Benedict, SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book!

I just finished Downton Abbey, and have been having MAJOR withdrawals–so it was pretty dang lucky that I had Carnegie’s Maid on my schedule! Imagine a gender-swapped Tom and Sybil storyline set in America, and there you have it!

After reading The Other Einstein last year, I couldn’t pass up another Marie Benedict novel. I haven’t stopped thinking about that book–I definitely underrated it. When I found out she was writing about Carnegie and his path into philanthropy? Of course I must read it!

This book has everything–struggle, passion, hope, and, of course, romance. I was a little uncomfortable about the power dynamics between Carnegie and Clara–but she knows how to handle herself in tough situations. I really enjoyed reading this, and as with the previous Marie Benedict–it’s a fun way to get to know a famous historical figure.

Clara Kelly leaves Ireland out of desperation to help her family. As a lady’s maid to Mrs. Carnegie, Andrew’s mother, she observes the enormous gap between the social classes and the lack of a ladder to success without access to education. I felt the relationship between Andrew and Clara was a bit unrealistic, realizing of course liberties are taken with historical fictions. It was just okay for me.

I loved this book. A compelling read from start to finish.

Marie Benedict has quickly become one of my favorite authors over the last year. Which is great, but also a problem because she’s only written two books and I want more! I read her first book, The Other Einstein, in June as part of the Big Library Read. It was a fictional re-telling of Albert Einstein’s first wife, Mileva Maric, and the impact she had on his work and life. (And the credit she never received.) I loved it (You can check out my review of that book HERE.), so I was very excited when I found out her second book, Carnegie’s Maid, would be published in January. Readers, it did not disappoint. I loved it just as much as her first book, and I definitely recommend this historical fiction novel.

Clara Kelley has come to America on a ship from Ireland to make her way in the land of opportunity-her family needs money and jobs are scarce in 1860s Ireland. The boat ride over is rough-sickness, not enough food, not enough space, and many people didn’t survive the trip. When she hears someone calling her name (a very common Irish name) to get on a carriage to Pittsburg, Clara jumps at the chance. The only problem is that she isn’t the Clara Kelley the driver was waiting for-that Clara most likely never made it all the way to America. In Pittsburgh, she becomes a lady’s maid to Andrew Carnegie’s mother, a notoriously difficult woman. As she gets to know the family more, and very much fakes it until she makes it in an unknown environment, she develops a close relationship with Andrew. He teaches her about business, and she helps him with his business. The Civil War is in the background and while not a focus, it provides some interesting side stories. But when her identity is revealed, she has to make a decision whether to stay or go, and to fight for what is right for her own life.

Clara is a completely fictional character, but represents the countless number of immigrants who could have influenced the upper classes as America was still being formed. Benedict was inspired to begin research for this novel when she came across Carnegie’s letter to himself pledging to use his wealth to help less privileged citizens gain success through knowledge. She imagined why he would have written that, and Clara was born. As with Einstein, this book made me want to research the history behind it. This is a particularly interesting story because Carnegie, one of the wealthiest people in American history, came to American as a poor Scottish immigrant. He had drive, but he also had help along the way, and the dichotomy between him and Clara is extremely interesting. He recognizes that Clara is in the same position he was when he first came to American, and he wants to help her, but he also wants to be sure to maintain his status.

Clara might be a fictional character, but strong women in history are not, and there are so many stories that we will never know because of men taking the credit. Carnegie’s Maid is Benedict’s excellent attempt at giving a voice to some of those strong female influencers throughout history, especially during a time when the infrastructure of the United States was newly forming. And to be very plain, it was just a really good story that sucked me in within the first few chapters. Benedict writes fully formed, interesting characters, and I truly hope she continues writing these books and giving a voice to women in history, fictional or not.

I loved this story about Clara a poor but educated Irish girl who lucks out and accidentally becomes an attendant for Andrew Carnegie's mother. She is in fear of being discovered as a fraud. Like everyone else in this book, she decides that her future depends on playing the role well and so she does what she must to survive.It is a page turner and a hopeful story about a specific period in American History.

I have really been enjoying this book - the mix of historical accuracy with real people, and the characters that may have interacted with them in their daily lives is fascinating. One could easily imagine oneself in the place of the maid or any of the people she interacts with on a daily basis. I am looking forward to reading this author's other book - The Other Einstein. I am particularly interested to see what happens in this book - especially because of the way it started out - with the letter to Clara, and Andrew Carnegie's focus on changing his life. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres to read and this is a top example of why I like them so much. I think this will appeal to fans of Anne Perry and Jacqueline Winspear, Rhys Bowen or Kerry Greenwood as well as other writers who work in the same genre.

In this novel, the author imagines how Andrew Carnegie might have been influenced to be a philanthropist building free public libraries for Americans. In real life Carnegie writes: "It was from my own early experience that I decided there was no use to which money could be applied so productive of good to boys and girls who have good within them and ability and ambition to develop it as the founding of a public library." History shows that when Carnegie was a poor lad in Pittsburgh, a wealthy man opened up his private library to the boys and girl in the community. Carnegie read to improve himself, and appreciated learning.

Carnegie is a young man in this story who has already begun to accumulate wealth. His mother still lives with him, as she did to her dying day. And she is in need of a maid - one who has experience with the upper class, and knows how she should groom herself and dress so she can function in high society in Pittsburgh.

Clara Kelly, an Irish immigrant just off the boat, applies for the maid's job, and gets it. Kelly has to pretend she knows what wealthy women do in society. Kelly loves learning, and when Andrew Carnegie is home, he appreciates the opportunity to engage with her lively mind. This story has several tensions within: can Kelly keep from being discovered that she never was a lady's maid prior and keep Mrs. Carnegie happy? Can she have a friendship with Andrew which benefits both without his mother and society finding out? And can she support her family back in Ireland who are on the brink of starvation and homelessness?

This is an engaging novel which feels like it could happen. It makes you appreciate the land of opportunity America has been throughout history. And it makes you grateful to be able to live here. My stepfather grew up in Pittsburgh in the early 20th century and spoke of how he would leave for church with a clean white shirt, and it would be black with coal dust by the time he returned home. He later died of breathing problems and thought his youth in Pittsburgh shortened his life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and researched Andrew Carnegie's life after reading it. He is one industrialist whom you can admire. As this book quotes him, Carnegie felt you should spend 1/3 of your life educating yourself, 1/3 creating wealth, and 1/3 giving wealth away which Carnegie did. This book suggest how a young Irish maid could have influenced Carnegie to be a great philanthropist. It could be a fun book group read. 4.5 stars

Clara Kelly takes the opportunity when it arises to leave Ireland and go to America to become a maid for the Carnegie family. The book enlightens readers to the trials that Irish immigrants faced when they came to America. The story was enthralling.

This was a very interesting take on what made Andrew Carnegie the philanthropist he is known as today. I like the idea that Clara Kelly, a maid desperate to help her family survive, was able to influence Andrew Carnegie. However, I don't think it was portrayed in a believable manner.

For one thing, Clara has no real knowledge of business. Now, that doesn't mean she can't come up with any original ideas. However, I wasn't as pleased with the way this came about. I wanted a little more time to see Clara grow in her expertise, or to show her shrewd mind. I didn't see that ability in her and so, it was hard for me to imagine that she was able to come up with the creative ideas that she did. 

I also found Clara to be a lot more bland than I would have liked. I wanted some spunk and some tenacity in her. It made it hard to connect with her as a reader. However, the other characters were portrayed beautifully. I especially loved Mrs. Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie's mother. She was very shrewd and her moments of social ineptitude were endearing. In fact, I would have loved to hear the story from her perspective, and see from her eyes as all her hard work is reflected through the success of her son.

I really liked the way that the author set up the historic scene, including the style of fashion and the different levels of decorum that are displayed at various levels of the social hierarchy.  However, I wish the language had been simpler. What I mean is that certain sentence structures seemed awkward and could have been worded in a simpler and more effective way; I don't like to have to reread sentences multiple times in order to understand an inconsequential detail.

Overall, I actually quite liked this historical fiction story. I liked learning more about the empire that Andrew Carnegie was trying to build, and I liked the idea that a simple maid could have influenced him so much. However, I wish that Clara had been a stronger character because her pivotal role seemed quite forced. In fact, I would have preferred to see the story from Mrs. Carnegie's perspective over hers! I'm going to give this novel a 2.5/5 stars (rounded to 3), but I look forward to reading more by this author!

As an avid reader of historical fiction, I was delighted to read Carnegie’s Maid. This book did not disappoint. The reader is instantly drawn into the life of Clara Kelly who is an Irish immigrant who finds employment as Andrew Carnegie’s mother’s maid. The reader has an excellent view of Lee lives of the haves and the have nots. I kept wondering how the author was going to end the book as I knew Clara was a fictional character. I was satisfied.

Carnegie's Maid , as it was

The Other Einstein the book let's remember it, about the first wife of Albert Einstein Mileva Maric, is another masterpiece of history, feelings, passions penned by Marie Benedict.



I hadn't never herd of Andrew Carnegie and his personal life-story before to reading this book but I thought while I was reading it that I was reading an historic book.

I had recently finished to read and reviewed another book by Johns Hopkins University, John W.Garrett and the Baltimore&Ohio Railroad and now I was back with another business man and the construction of another railroad: the Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh one.



Carnegie's Maid is vibrant and rich thanks to the delicacy and poeticity of Benedict's writing-style in descriptions of places, people and social and political conditions, without forgetting Irish movements of protests, discrimination of Irish people with Catholic Faith, without forgetting strong descriptions of familiar conditions of Irish peasants and farmers constricted most of the time to emigrate in USA for trying to survive. Black conditions and slavery treated largely because of the support at the Yankee cause from Andrew Carnegie.

It won't be forgotten the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and a private situation of a servant of Andrew's mansion searching for the rest of his family.



In Ireland Famine killed many people and most Irish decided to search for a better life in the New World.



In general entire families left for the USA because scared of an uncertain desolating future in their own homeland, but in this case just a girl of 18 years old will leave, Clara, because not adapted for the farm life.



Being a girl attracted by books and culture men close to her couldn't be good as well.



Who knows? Maybe the USA would have brought good luck to her thought her parents.

The family counted to save the farm thanks to her material help, money, and Clara a dedicated family-girl won't disappoint her family's exigencies.



The trip long was long 40 days. Clara arrived on Nov 4th 1863 in Philadelphia, and after few days Clara Kelley reaches her new mistress, Mrs. Carnegie in Fairfield, Pittsburgh.



The Carnegies were a family of Scottish people. They built fortune thanks to great investments, perspicacity, and intelligence.



Let's say that Clara will reach the status of Mrs Carnegie's maid hiding something vital, but I don't want to reveal this particular because very important.



Slowly Clara knows the two sons of Mrs.Carnegie but the one she falls in love for and with is the eldest one called Andrew.



Andrew is intelligent, he is a business man, but he also loves to share with Clara his projects. He tells her how he became so rich, telling her his family-story, sharing with her, his passion for poetry and books.



It's always a mess to mix work and love in particular when mrs. Carnegie is the owner of Clara and Clara in this sense is admonished: be careful because servants won't never win, tell her the other servants.



That rigid woman, mrs Carnegie although once poor wouldn't never approved a relationship of his son Andrew with Clara.



What set a man or a woman free when we talk of parents, relatives?

Have people limits although they are born rich or poor?

These limits involve also the most private sphere and so who falling in love with?

How can these limits influence people's future and their destiny?



These ones, you will see, are strong questions in Carnegie's Maid.



Andrew Carnegie decided to give up at a certain point at his past of avarice embracing the cause of immigrants less lucky than him with the creation of many free libraries.

Mr.Carnegie gave opportunity to everyone, if too poor for buying a book, to read books freely in dedicated spaces understanding the big power that culture can means for a man.





Marie Benedict, I want to tell this anecdote because it's very important and makes the difference, says that she loved to write this book because when more than a hundred year ago her ancestors afforded from Ireland to the USA, they couldn't buy any book and they studied, learnt, thanks to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh the first one created by Andrew Carnegie and other public Carnegie's libraries.

With the time this family has had lawyers, doctors, professors and all of them attended the so-called Ivy League Universities.

You see: a great improvement.



Andrew Carnegie was considered a heartless man but at the age of 33 years, he wrote a letter to himself.

A letter he would have kept close to him for the rest of all his life.

In this letter he remarked he wanted to focus on "the education and improvement of the poorer classes."



He was considered an avid man, stingy, plenty of avarice.

Who changed him? thought Marie Benedict.



There is still no trace of the person who changed de fact the course of the personal story of mr. Carnegie, but someone did it in a remarkable and positive way.



Marie Benedict remembers that one of her first relative from Galway worked once arrived in the USA as maid in the mansion of one of Carnegie's partners.

The idea of putting Clara directly in Carnegie's mansion imagining a tender story with Andrew, an inspiring and winning touch.



Mr. Carnegie married Louise Whitfield , and he has had a daughter.





I recommend to you Carnegie's Maid so badly! to everyone.

Having read Marie Benedict's first novel last summer I was looking forward to her newest work. In many ways this book was the opposite of her first, The Other Einstein. There we have a smart scientist woman who ends up having to give up her work for the sake of the family. While in this book we have a young woman who is smart, but haven’t had any advantages since she comes from a poor farmer family in Ireland. Her family is a little better off than most, having more than one acre of land. Those with just one acre had their crop as nearly all potato and then the blight came and they were devastated.

Our heroine here lands a job as a lady’s maid to Mrs. Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie's mother. The story starts off as Clara Kelley is near the end of her voyage to America from Ireland, escaping the devastating famine and hoping to save her own family left behind. Clara has amazing luck in landing the lady's maid position, but on a falsehood of her true origin. The story focus stays on Clara, as the Carnegies foothold into the upper class society grows as they started to amass their fortune.

The time period is just at the ending of the civil war and with the end of slavery, but those historical details while mentioned are not lingered upon. Over the time of the book Andrew Carnegie shows interest in Clara, the maid and teaches her business and shows how he overcame his poverty as well. The book also has a romance but would rather not spoil anything on that aspect, only to point out that many words are taken up around this aspect.

There was a strong focus on how the Irish was faring after the worst of the famine due to the potato blight and how a few who made it to America were struggling to survive. I enjoyed learning about this aspect. I knew nothing about Andrew Carnegie other than he was a philanthropist and built many great public libraries.

I wasn’t completely satisfied with the book. Something about the ending just felt off, perhaps a little more at the end would have been better. This is a very interesting take on exploring the idea of why Carnegie spent so much of his amassed fortune on building public libraries.

I look forward to see what other historical women Benedict will write about next.

Wonderful storyline ! !

Thanks to Netgalley and respective publishers for providing copy for me.

Comprehensive, exceptionally written book.
Great HISTORICAL FICTION AND ROMANCE.
I've not read any good Historical fiction after prolong time period.

A novel, merely described about life of Immigrants especially about leading characters and how they flew with their masters.
I like whole description of each and every character as well as flow of story.
So many wishes for the Author.

After the challenging reading of The Other Einstein, exploring the relationship between Albert Einstein and his first wife, the Serbian-born Mileva Maric, Marie Benedict is back with a very interesting novel of historical fiction setting a different perspective on the revered Andrew Carnegie.

Set in the 19th century and written as a succession of diary entries, Carnegie's Maid is a story about Clara Kelley, an Irish-born immigrant to America which by accident ends up as a maid to the newly rich Carnegie family. Well-educated and cultured, Clara catch the attention of Andrew, the older son, and get acquainted with the practices and mindset of the business community. She learns not only the habits of the new rich and the social stratification, but also about strategies to succeed in life as a new immigrant. She writes at a certain moment: 'For the first time, I realized how alike my situation was to that of Mr. Carnegie. Although the scale was quite different, the stakes were not. The wellbeing of both our families rested on our success'.

In their own way, both of them will succeed to bring their families fame and a secure future, although their ways will part.

What I really loved about the book is how smoothly the story enfolded, the art of story-telling being much more entincing than in the case of The Other Einstein, which I loved actually a whole lot. The reconstruction of the historical context is realistic enough to give freedom to the literary imagination and create characters in their own right. The racial struggle and the struggle for equal rights for women are discretely interwined, giving a specific context to the personality of the characters.

The women in the book are strong, aware of their personality, but still exploring their options the society offers them, without necessarily pushing forth the limits. For Clara, there is a new world opening up, since she put her first step on the American soil. 'I had never considered that professions for women existed outside service and mariage, if one considered marriage a profession'.

Carnegie's Maid is one of those book you plunge into it and you want it hardly to not end. It has the right magic to bring you into the story, but also a strong reflective dimension that keep you thinking about strong women and their hard fight to be recognized as equal subjects.

Marie Benedict's second novel definitely outshines her first. Carnegie's Maid imagines an interesting take on what could have caused Andrew Carnegie to become a great philanthropist. Clara is a new Irish immigrant sent to America in order to save her family from starvation back in Ireland. An odd series of events, a couple of big lies, and she is assigned to be a lady's maid for the elder Mrs. Carnegie.
Although the storyline is somewhat predictable, I enjoyed the history lesson.