Two books: Maid to Match and Brave New World

I have decided to try to read faster and get my book reading the 100 finished by the end of the year. This means that I will do a quick review of the 48 books that I had previously read before starting the 100 list. But in the meantime I will review the current books that I ha read. One which is on the reading the 100 and the other is a book that my book club is reading. Are there similarities in the two, some, but not many. The first book I finished was MAID TO MATCH by Deeanne Gist. This book is set in 1898, on the Biltmore Estate. The author makes note at the back of the book that not all facts are real but do make an interesting story. The Vanderbilt's at this time were newlyweds and they were very nice people who took care of their servants, so that part of the story is true. The orphanage is not true, nor are the names of the servants mentioned in the book. It has a very upstairs downstairs point of view, but central focus is on the servants and their interaction and desires. I found that the mother who groomed our main character, Tilly, to be a Lady's maid has somehow forgotten about love. I really became angry with her for not supporting her daughters decision to marry, but instead wanted her to spend all her days a slave, though treated nicely, to other peoples desires. There was a cast system in play and some biases against people in the mountains of Asheville. I have been to Ashville, several times and find the area fascinating. I do however, find that I do not wish to spend the 50 dollars to go to the estate, I rather like the village. I really enjoyed the book, it was a fast read and I am looking for a good discussion at book club. I guess this falls in the category of a historical romance and is on par with Downtown Abbey. The next book I read was A BRAVE NEW WORLD, by Aldous Huxely, very different for a book written in 1932. We have a Utopian society that I am sure at the time was looked at with incredulity. In this society, everyone is manufactured to be the same, but it is still built on a class system, that goes from Alpha's to Epsilon's. As you guess the Alpha's get all the best from their test-tube lives up to meds that help them to achieve all their goals. The Epsilon's are bred to basically be stupid and for menial jobs. Each are also given medicine that helps in the various areas where they will find work, such as malaria drugs. The children are also conditioned at night while they are sleeping, with songs that are to either keep them in their place, or to look down on the lower castes. The other shocking thing that is introduced is the use of drugs to keep everyone stable and looking young. The other is the sex that is for everyone, within caste. Even the small children are encouraged to engage in sexual acts. I can see why in 1936 it was not a popular book. I dare say it probably would still not be considered a proper book. As you might suspect there are people who just do not fit in this mold, even when conditioned to do so. There are also areas where there are other societies. They are generally called savage areas. When one "savage" is brought back then there is definitely some friction. No mothers or fathers for the utopian society, they are obscene names and acts. The utopian society does have a God who replaces God that they call Ford. There are Ford manuals on how to do things. God was replaced because all the books were old, just like Shakespeare. I enjoyed the book. But I think that in 1932 and then especially around 1942, when we have Hitler trying to make a special type of person the norm, there would be a hard time getting into this book without some sort of reservations. Again the thing that pulls these two boks together is the class sytem., wheteher ist is 1898n or the 2500's.