Customer Reviews

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

First, understand that I enjoyed reading "Miss Pettigrew". However, this is a tough book to pin down morally.

On the one hand is the marvelous way Delysia and her friends take in this stranger, Miss Pettigrew, and show her around town and give her a makeover and feed her the best food she's ever had. They do nothing less than hand her a new, and in many ways a better, life. A tale full of hope for the middleaged "down and out"!

On the other hand is the fact that "living" includes a lot of illicit sex, barrels of alcohol, smoking, drugs, and any necessary subterfuge. Miss Pettigrew finds herself constantly acting against her moral ideals. While many would agree Miss Pettigrew's moral ideals are Victorian and therefore passe, some commandments never go out of style as far as I'm concerned. This book sends out mixed messages.

One other thought to ponder, would Miss Pettigrew's "friends" be her friends if she hadn't turned out to be so useful to them?

It's entirely possible I thought about this book more than it was ever meant to be thought about...

Foul Language - None that I recall.
Sex - Delysia is obviously sexually intimate with more than one man. But there are no "sex scenes".
Violence - No. Unless you count one solid punch.

If you enjoyed the film version of Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, or if you have read the original book, this unabridged audio version performed by Frances McDormand will also be of interest. While the film necessarily speeds up or even changes the action in places and conflates some of the characters, it retains the wit and feeling of the story very well... listen for yourself.

In this 5-disc set you get the entire story as written by the author, enlivened by McDormand's deft, clear vocal characterizations. The author's language is often wickedly funny, and McDormand manages to keep each character's voice and manner distinct -- even in "crowded" scenes. I notice that while listening to this audibook as I drive, I stay in a very good mood (even in pesky traffic).

The packaging of the set is sturdy and very attractive, too (matches the new edition of the pb)... in case you are thinking of giving it as a gift. Each disc comes in its own printed sleeve inside the box. Well done!

Fans of the Golden Age "grande dames" of detective fiction are oh-so-familiar with the young, fast set in 1930s London. Lord Peter Wimsey could talk "piffle" till the wee hours at clubs and parties, and Roderick Alleyn--until he met the artist Agatha Troy--was known to enjoy the company of actresses. These detectives were the creations of Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh, but their London came to life as a backdrop to the wildly popular books.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is by no means a crime novel, but it was written in 1938 by Winifred Watson, a contemporary of Sayers and Marsh. It was a best-seller in its day but went out of print until resurrected by Persephone Books, a London-based publisher of "neglected classics" from the 20th century. "Miss Pettigrew" was made into a movie, which I have not seen, in 2008.

Miss Pettigrew is a drab middle-aged spinster out of a job and looking for work as a governess (which she hates, being afraid of both the children and their parents). An agency sends her by mistake to the apartment of nightclub singer Delycia LaFosse. Miss LaFosse's personal affairs are in an uproar due to a surfeit of suitors, and Miss Pettigrew discovers in herself a talent for sorting out difficult situations. The day brings one situation after another and there is never a chance to inquire about the position. How does timid Miss Pettigrew find it in herself to send unsuitable young men packing and become the toast of cocktail parties and night clubs? Simple--she takes her inspiration from haughty former employers and of course from the movies she loves so much. It's all so wonderful for her; she's never had a scrap of glamor and excitement in her life until this wonderful day.

After inciting a fight at a late-night club to save Miss LaFosse from herself, with whom will Miss Pettigrew find herself sharing a cab? And what will come of THAT adventure? Predictable but so much fun...the entire book is a piece of delightful "piffle," and of course everyone gets the very thing they want most in the end.

There are a few passages that are culturally inappropriate by today's standards, and of course you wouldn't want your daughters lying about in negligees drinking all day and staying up until 4 a.m. throwing themselves at tantalizing men in night clubs. But the book is a product of its era so if you can cut it some slack on that account, then by all means pick it up and enjoy it.

I listened to the unabridged audio, wonderfully narrated by Frances McDormand who played Miss Pettigrew in the 2008 movie. It was six hours of pure escapist enjoyment, though I'm sorry to have missed the original illustrations in the Persephone edition.

Linda Bulger, 2010

This is the most 'delightful' book I've read since The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet. It's a Cinderella-type story of a spinster, Miss Pettigrew, who is one moment away from living in a workhouse or on the streets. She endeavors to get a job with a young lady of questionable morals. If she was not destitute, she would never associate herself with such a lady. The two women find that they have much to learn from each other; in fact, they need each other.

It's a story that I knew would end happily - yet I could not put it down because I wanted to know HOW everything would happen.

I'm giving it 5 stars because I know I would gladly re-read it some day. Highly recommended to those who love sweet, old fashioned books.

"I vamped the boss."

"She simply stood and let elation pour through her like a shot of Nick's cocaine."

"Last gesture before entering a room--powder your nose. It gives a sense of confidence."


These are just a few gems from this thoroughly delightful Cinderella story concerning an English governess nearly at the end of her employment rope. Guinevere Pettigrew shows up for a job interview that unexpectedly catapults her into a whirlwind social spree among the cocktail set of London. For one day, the middle-aged Miss Pettigrew throws caution to the wind when she becomes companion to Delysia LaFosse, an actress with serious man troubles.

With the charm and escapism of a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers' movie and the flowing liquor and hilarious slang of a great Thin Man film, Miss Pettigrew is a complete delight to read and tremendous fun.

Note: Be sure to read the "Persephone Classics" version, chock-full of witty illustrations.

This little book may become one of my all time favorites. It is a great comic novel with bright dialogue, very English humor and characters who are three-dimensional. When mousy, timid little Miss Pettigrew knocks on Miss LaFosse's door to apply for a desperately needed job, she is grabbed by the beautiful actress and pulled into a wild, exciting, slightly vulgar day that is far from the genteel, grey poverty of Miss Pettigrew's everyday life. Set and written in pre-World War II London, the book is true to its milieu with lingering Victorian mores warring with more modern sensibilities, all viewed through the eyes of a slightly bewildered, prim English governess who is eager to experience every second of this magical day. The current movie, with Amy Adams and the great Frances McDormand as Miss Pettigrew, is very true to the book, so if you liked the movie you're going to really like the book.

I first saw the movie and decided that I had to read the book. I was not dissappointed in either. Winifred Watson was a master of words. She made me feel like I was at the cocktail party. I wish that she had written more than 6 books. It's hard to believe that her book had not been made into a movie before. Her character are rich. I felt as if I knew every single one of them. This book can span the generations.