Carol McD. Wallace

AUTHOR BIO

When Julian Fellowes was approached to create the now immensely popular Downton Abbey TV series, he was reading TO MARRY AN ENGLISH LORD, by Gail McColl and Carol McD. Wallace, which he calls “a marvelous and entertaining study of the American girls who came over to England, mostly between 1890 and 1914, to marry into the British aristocracy.” As a result, Lady Cora (played by Elizabeth McGovern) was the first character he imagined. It occurred to him that “while it must have been wonderful for these girls to begin with, what happened twenty-five years later when they were freezing in a house in Cheshire, aching for Long Island?”

TO MARRY AN ENGLISH LORD explores both the glamour and the misfortune that greeted some 100+ newly minted American heiresses who, having been snubbed by the Social Register, invaded Britannia to swap dollars for titles. First published in 1989, this book has been reissued for Downton Abbey fans. From their courtships to their welcome (or not) by new in-laws; from their magnificent wardrobes to the even more magnificent jewels they acquired through marriage; and from the pressure to produce an heir to the affairs that frequently warmed up frigid rooms when husbands were away on expeditions—it’s all here. Carol Wallace has collected photographs and anecdotes into a lively and gossipy talk and Powerpoint presentation, which she has given at historic houses and libraries, and to various organizations.

Speaking Topics

- TO MARRY AN ENGLISH LORD: True Stories Behind Life at Downton Abbey (with Powerpoint)
- England and America: Common Language, Uncommon Customs (with Powerpoint)
- Art and Madness in the Life of Vincent Van Gogh (with Powerpoint)
- Writing History as Fact and Fiction

Meet Carol McD. Wallace

- Talk at Westport Public Library
- CT Public Radio interview