Miss Pettigrew is about a governess sent by an employment agency to the wrong address, where she encounters a glamorous night-club singer, Miss LaFosse. 'The sheer fun, the light-heartedness' in this wonderful 1938 book 'feels closer to a Fred Astaire film than anything else' comments the Preface-writer Henrietta Twycross-Martin, who found Miss Pettigrew for Persephone Books. The Guardian asked: 'Why has it taken more than half a century for this wonderful flight of humour to be rediscovered?' while the Daily Mail liked the book's message - 'that everyone, no matter how poor or prim or neglected, has a second chance to blossom in the world.' Maureen Lipman wrote in 'Books of the Year' in the Guardian: 'Perhaps the most pleasure has come from Persephone's enchanting reprints, particularly Miss Pettigrew, a fairy story set in 1930s London'
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About the Author
Winifred Watson (1907-2002) lived in Newcastle and wrote six novels in all; she chose to stop writing after the birth of her son in 1941. The Times interviewed her at age 94 when Persephone Books reissued the book in 2000. The headline was "Bodice-Ripping Fame at 94".
From AudioFile
A bestseller in Britain when first published in 1938, this charming novel was recently adapted to film, starring Academy Award winner Frances McDormand, who here makes a rare audiobook appearance. It's about a dowdy governess who, stumbling into the employ of a freewheeling nightclub singer, undergoes a psychological makeover while putting some order into her charge's unruly existence. New to this type of performance, McDormand creates her own technique. Neither a narrator nor a storyteller, she's a character actor, a particularly fine one, who "plays" the book with considerable skill, imagination, and animation. Though her style is a little disjointed, it is singularly enjoyable. She gives a sweet bit of fluff distinction by virtue of her unique talent. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Winfired Watson's little 1938 fantasy has become the bestelling reissue for the terrific Persephone Books imprint in the UK, and its not hard to see why. Basically a Cinderella story set during the 30s, Watson's novel concerns a dowdy governess sent by mistake by her agency to the home of a glamorous and dithering nightclub singer, who comes to rely upon Miss Pettigrew to straighten out her love life. Miss Pettigrew not only rises to the challenge (much to her own surprise), but undergoes a makeover and finds some romance for her own life as well. While undeniably slim (and purposefully so), the novel is just about irresistible: it plays upon the same fantasy as Jane Austen's MANSFIELD PARK, the fantasy of being not only loved but also needed. Curiously, the trappings of glamour in this novel come not from the world of the wealthy and titled (as per usual in British fiction from this era, as in the novels of Waugh and Nancy Mitford) but from a world envisioned in American film: the world of night clubs, self-made men, and cocaine-dabbling gigolos.
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By Megan
Format:Paperback
Okay, the premise sounds a little strange but this is my absolute favorite book. I've never mat anyone who read this book who did not immediately go out and buy it for their best friend or their mother or their daughter. Most Persephone books are wonderful, but this one is far and away the one to start with!
Miss Pettigrew is a dowdy governess who doesn't much like children and is down on her luck. She accidentally gets sent to the flat of a glamorous nightclub singer who is having all sorts of man trouble, which Miss Pettigrew promptly fixes with a combination of her wits and her totally common sense attitude about life.
It's a light and very easy read, definitely loose on the realism. But really, I promise that you will NOT regret it if you buy this book.
Miss Pettigrew is a dowdy governess who doesn't much like children and is down on her luck. She accidentally gets sent to the flat of a glamorous nightclub singer who is having all sorts of man trouble, which Miss Pettigrew promptly fixes with a combination of her wits and her totally common sense attitude about life.
It's a light and very easy read, definitely loose on the realism. But really, I promise that you will NOT regret it if you buy this book.
31 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's incredibly that untill recently, this book was hardly known about, much less considered an important book. This book is sweet and delightful and funny. The dialouge is memorable, and so are the pictures. I'd love to see this turned into a movie. But i think maybe its the sort of book that shouldv'e been turned into a movie in the 50's...it just wouldn't be right unless it was shot in that wonderfully grainy old film with 1950's conceits and that fat cat dialougue.
Anyways, the book is about this dowdy old lady who going to an interview as a nanny, but she's given the wrong adress and ends up at the house of Delsyia, a sweet aspiring actress with three lovers and who romps about in classic 1920's flapper style. Miss Pettigrew is detirmined to save her from the wicked cociane snorting possesive man and the career-advancing director and have her marry the good guy, and in the mean time, Miss Pettigrew gets a make-over, finds a beau, and has a little jazz and booze fun of her own. Its a really funny subversive little story told in a very touching way.
Anyways, the book is about this dowdy old lady who going to an interview as a nanny, but she's given the wrong adress and ends up at the house of Delsyia, a sweet aspiring actress with three lovers and who romps about in classic 1920's flapper style. Miss Pettigrew is detirmined to save her from the wicked cociane snorting possesive man and the career-advancing director and have her marry the good guy, and in the mean time, Miss Pettigrew gets a make-over, finds a beau, and has a little jazz and booze fun of her own. Its a really funny subversive little story told in a very touching way.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
"... It's over," thought Miss Pettigrew. "I've had my day... Some...
Around 3:10 a.m. on a cold, wet November London morning, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew walked up the stairs of fashionable Onslow Mansion. Read more
Published 15 days ago by T. Patrick Killough
4.0 out of 5 stars
Light but delightful
I picked up this book on a whim and found it a total delight. I had not seen the movie, so only knew the barest outline of the story. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Judy Gruen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!
I saw the movie first and loved it. I loved the book even better than the movie. Too bad the author retired.
Published 2 months ago by Lynn Carpenter
5.0 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love this book
I just love this book! It is such a delight. I love the movie too. There are certainly differences between the book and the movie but I still highly recommend reading this book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Arnold
5.0 out of 5 stars
a book I keep re-reading
This has become one of my favorite books to re-read periodically. It's a fantasy in the sense that the plot is very unlikely; but it's the best kind of escapism I've found--with... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jo-Anne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it! I think I was smiling for all 200 odd pages!
What a delightful read this was! A friend gave it to me, and despite the fact that I usually seek out Persephone Classics, I was skipping this one.. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Topolino
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful book, with one caution
I love the film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams and was curious about the late 1930's book it was based on. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gun Moll
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the same as the movie, but still worth reading.
Without giving too much away, I will say this book is not as light as the movie. Just the same the book has merit. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Sabrina M. Messenger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful!
This book has just joined Laurie Colwin's "Happy All the Tine" as one of my primal comfort reads.
Others have discussed the plot, so I won't. Read more
Others have discussed the plot, so I won't. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Cissa
3.0 out of 5 stars
fun cinderella story
Fun & fast-paced Cinderella story. Miss Pettigrew is a 40ish, poor excuse for a governess who knocks on the door of a flamboyant singer/actress one morning and it changes her life... Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. Fitch
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