My Thirty Years Backstairs At the White House, by Lillian Rogers Parks (HC, 1961, $3)
Parks first visited the White House when she was four and her mother, the first maid of the White House, couldn't find someone to watch her. After polio, she was a small child, and walked with crutches, but she would also become a White House maid. Her mother looked after the Tafts, Wilsons, Hardings, and Coolidges. "Little Lillian" herself would look after the Hoovers, Roosevelts, Trumans and Eisenhowers.
Upstairs At the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, by J. B. West (HC, 1973, $3)
When asked what he did as a chief usher, West replied "I do what I am told to do." Earlier, a chief usher ushered in visitors to see the first family. Now the term is obsolete, but no one has figured out a better one. This is his view of life with the first families, from Roosevelt's to Nixon's.
Haven't you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall at the White House? Now you can, at least partially. Parks gives a view into an earlier era, and from a woman's perspective. West's view is later, and from a man's perspective. If you read them both, you can compare the views. Look for them on the new non-fiction table, or, eventually, in the biography section. (Avail. 9/27.)
