Mr Thomas Barrow and Miss Sarah O’Brien

This richly illustrated short, extracted from the official book The Chronicles of Downton Abbey, focuses on the characters individually, examining their motivations, their actions and the inspirations behind them. Forwarded by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

Thomas Barrow is one of the most complicated and intriguing of all the characters at Downton Abbey. As we have got to know him through years of both peace and war, multiple layers have been peeled away to reveal an insecure, jealous, sometimes paranoid, defensive and cowardly man beneath a glossy veneer of good looks and arrogance.

‘O’Brien realises that she is never going to be rich or successful – although she is quite successful as the lady’s maid of a countess,” says Julian Fellowes. “But she gets her thrills by manipulating and being devious and plotting. Her reward is in having a sense that she has power over people.’

Purchase this ebook short and the others in the series to get closer still to the characters at Downton Abbey and to understand more about their social context – from the changing role of the aristocracy to fashion and beauty, American Anglophiles, the Suffragette movement and life below stairs in a big country house like Downton.

Search for The Chronicles of Downton Abbey to purchase all shorts combined.

About the author

Jessica Fellowes is the No. 1 bestselling author of The World of Downton Abbey. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Country Life, she has also been a columnist for the London Paper – her columns formed the basis of her book Mud & the City: Dos and Don'ts for Townies in the Country. Jessica also writes for the Daily Telegraph, Telegraph Weekend, The Lady and Sunday Times Style, and lives with her family in London.

Matthew Sturgis is a freelance writer and critic who has written art criticism for Harpers & Queen, travel pieces for the Sunday Telegraph and football reports for the Independent on Sunday. He is the author of Passionate Attitudes: the English Decadence of the 1890s and the highly-praised Aubrey Beardsley. He lives in London.