The Servant Problem
Shedunnit
Domestic labour, gender and respect
Alison reflects on women's unpaid labor, cultural dependence, and dignity in care work.
How the interwar servant shortage changed detective fiction.
This episode marked the beginning of the Shedunnit Pledge Drive. Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/pledgedrive.
Books mentioned in this episode:
— Mrs Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light
— The Psychology of the Servant Problem by Violet M Firth
— Trent's Last Case by EC Bentley
— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
— "The Invisible Man" by G.K. Chesterton, collected in The Innocence of Father Brown
— Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie
— "Miss Marple Tells a Story" by Agatha Christie, collected in Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories
— The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
— "The Case of the Perfect Maid" by Agatha Christie, collected in Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories
— "The Dream" by Agatha Christie, collected in The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories
— "Greenshaw's Folly" by Agatha Christie, collected in Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories
— The Wintringham Mystery by Anthony Berkeley
— Why Shoot A Butler? by Georgette Heyer
— Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin
— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers
— Who Killed the Curate? by Joan Coggin
— The Hollow by Agatha Christie
— A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie
— Mrs McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie
— After the Funeral by Agatha Christie
— A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
— 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
— Simisola by Ruth Rendell
NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.
To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The AI-powered Podcast Player
