Rodney Laredo is a self-confessed Anglophile who knew, from the very first time he sailed to England as a 21-year-old, that the "Mother Country" would keep calling him back. Newly married in the 1980s, Rodney took his wife, Alethea, to England in the hope she would share his passion for the land of their ancestors.
Armed with little more than enthusiasm, intrepid spirits and Kiwi ingenuity, the hard-working pair set about searching for work as "a couple", essentially looking after wealthy people incapable of looking after themselves. Despite their complete lack of experience, after a few amusingly awkward interviews, it wasn't long before they found the perfect position at a whopping great pile known as Chantborough Court. Once ensconced in the charming staff cottage within the estate, they set about overseeing daily life for their loaded employers.
Harbouring a deeply ingrained fondness for Britain's architecture, design and countryside, not to mention the colourful characters to be found there, Laredo kept an almost daily journal he filled with observations on his travels and experiences.
Needless to say, life at the "big house" provided plenty of grist for his diary-keeping mill.
During the course of the book, the couple spend a full year at Chantborough Court. Day to day they manage the household's four gardeners, various dailies, appointment diaries, not to mention coping with the whims of a posh, privileged couple (and their guests) who've never had to do much of anything for themselves. Merely walking the family's five dogs appeared to be a full-time job. Although, that said, the couple didn't have to manage a cook, on account of the mistress seeing cooking as a bit of a "hobby", as she liked to refer to it.
