A Chambermaid's Diary

A servant's diary of the houses she has worked in: the masters who pursue her, the mistresses who count the linen, and a coachman with something in his past. Mirbeau published it in 1900 to appal the bourgeoisie and succeeded; it has been filmed by Renoir and Buñuel since. The comedy is savage and the class anger under it never rests. Fifty-eight plates of kitchens, servants and rural labour by painters from Chardin to Caillebotte give the domestic world behind the diary its own history.