It is not for nothing that Belinda's father called her "The General". Belinda could marshal and control more than armies-she could control the people about her. Belinda's father dies and she is left with an ailing mother to support. But nothing daunted, she sells up their beloved home and sets out on her long Odyssey of domestic service.There surely never was a domestic servant like Belinda. Staving off irate butchers when there is no money to pay them, helping elopements, protecting down-trodden wives, become every-day occurrences in Belinda's life, through which her extreme good-nature and sense of humour carry her in triumph.

Introduction by: Roger Smalley