Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Persephone Classics)

by Winifred Watson

Paperback, 2008

Status

Available

Publication

Persephone Books (2008), Edition: Revised, Paperback, 256 pages

Description

Miss Pettigrew, a governess looking for work, is sent by mistake to the home of Delysia LaFosse, a glamorous nightclub singer involved with three different men and is invited to stay after offering Miss LaFosse common sense advice about her love life.

User reviews

LibraryThing member lauralkeet
What a delight! Miss Pettigrew is a middle-aged governess, unmarried, and part Cinderella, part Mary Poppins. One day, her employment agency sends her to Miss Delysia LaFosse, ostensibly to fill an open place. On arrival, Miss Pettigrew finds Miss LaFosse, a night club singer, trying to deal with
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an unwanted male visitor. Miss Pettigrew surprises everyone, including herself, by successfully getting rid of the gentleman. And from that point on, she can do no wrong in Miss LaFosse's eyes.

Miss Pettigrew is forty-ish, unmarried, and entirely dependent on employers for her room and board. Miss LaFosse's lifestyle is foreign and exciting, as are her relationships with men. Despite her success ousting unwelcome suitors, Miss Pettigrew is completely inexperienced in the art of romance, and even the most basic beauty rituals:
Miss Pettigrew stared at her blankly. Her mind was whirling: her thoughts chaotic. A mental upheaval rendered her dizzy. Yes, why? All these years and she had never had the wicked thrill of powdering her nose. Others had experienced that joy. Never she. And all because she lacked courage. All because she had never thought for herself. Powder, thundered her father the curate, the road to damnation. Lipstick, whispered her mother, the first step on the downward path. Rouge, fulminated her father, the harlot's enticement. Eyebrow pencil, breathed her mother, no lady ... ! (p. 73)

She's also very proper:
"I've never sworn in my life before," wailed Miss Pettigrew.

... "But I didn't hear you swear," consoled Miss LaFosse.

"You must have been too upset. I said 'damned' and 'hell' and meant them ... that way."

"Oh!" said Miss LaFosse with a reassuring beam. "They're not swear words. They're only expressions." (p. 45)


Over the course of a single day, Miss Pettigrew comes to the aid of Miss LaFosse and her friends in countless ways. And they teach her a thing or two as well, giving her a makeover and whisking her away on their evening adventures. As the clock advanced into the evening, it appeared Cinderella's coach might turn back into a pumpkin, and Miss Pettigrew would once again find herself destitute and alone. But Winifred Watson takes the story in a different direction, one that is simultaneously predictable and enormously satisfying.

This book was real treat. And while it was my first Persephone Classic, I have a feeling it won't be my last.
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LibraryThing member SheReadsNovels
This book has been described as a romantic comedy, a fairy tale and a Cinderella fantasy - and it's all of those things and more. It tells the story of Guinevere Pettigrew, a timid middle-aged governess. When her employment agency accidentally send her to the wrong address, she finds herself at the
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home of the beautiful young actress and singer, Miss LaFosse. Waiting for the right moment to tell Miss LaFosse that she thinks there's been a mistake, and realising that her new friend needs her help, Miss Pettigrew is swept into a glamorous world of night clubs and cocktail parties - and to her surprise, discovers that she's enjoying every minute of it!

I found Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day very easy to read, and with the entire story taking place in a day, it moved along at a fast pace. The perfect choice if you're in the mood for something light hearted, fun and frivolous. Although it didn't immediately become a favourite book, it was a lively, entertaining read full of amusing scenes and witty dialogue that made me smile.

Although the book was written in the 1930s and does have a certain old fashioned charm, it still has a lot of relevance. I'm sure we'd all love to have a day like Miss Pettigrew's where all our dreams comes true and we finally do all the things we've never been brave enough to do before.

As a side note, I really loved the illustrations in this book! It's always nice to see illustrations and these beautiful drawings by Mary Thomson really added something extra to the story and helped bring the scenes to life.
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LibraryThing member jayne_charles
This is a delightful re-writing of “Cinderella” from the 1930s – I tend to expect wordy, rather dull novels to come out of that time period, but aside from some old fashioned attitudes to violence, this could have been written last week. It’s totally readable, perfect to escape into, if
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Enid Blyton had written adult novels I reckon this is the sort of thing she would have written.

Miss Pettigrew, an impoverished spinster and “not very good” governess who can’t tell cocaine from Beecham’s Powders, ends up by some mix up in the home of a nightclub singer, becomes adopted as her best buddy and discovers a talent for seeing off unwanted cads.

It’s such fun to read: one wants the downtrodden Miss Pettigrew to succeed, and against all her expectations things go swimmingly, though lurking at the edge of consciousness is the question of what will happen at the end of the day: will Miss Pettigrew have to return to her previous life? There was so much humour (I loved the fish v ice cream tirade) not to mention some good illustrations. A surprising and enjoyable book.
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LibraryThing member Kasthu
Miss Pettigrew is a penniless governess out of work, when her employment agency sends her to fill a post as governess at the home of Miss Delysia LaFosse. But when she arrives, everything is turned on its head as Miss Pettigrew finds herself living in glamour for the first time in her life. Along
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the way, she helps out a few new-found friends, attends several glamorous parties, and finds herself being “not quite herself.”

The description of the book on Amazon is that this is a kind of modern day (1930s) Cinderella tale—which it certainly is. It’s a very charming, witty, and eccentric book, one that I enjoyed immensely. There are also a series of illustrations inside, which add to the magic of this very special little book.
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LibraryThing member spinsterrevival
What a happy, charming, and delightful book! Miss Pettigrew really does "live" as she runs into odd situations and interesting characters in one very extended day of her life that will change her forever. I think this novel will be a comfort reread in the future!
LibraryThing member debutnovelist
A bright and breezy period piece in which Miss Pettigrew, a mousy spinster, ends up by accident in the household of a glamorous cabaret singer. There begins an emotional rags to riches tale which is in many respects (tone, character) one-dimensional. But it is highly entertaining. A quick read for
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a rainy day.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
This book has lots of reviews, so let me just say that I enjoyed it completely. The Narrator, Frances McDormand, was terrific, although I had a difficult time at first trying to decide if we were in London or New York. Watching Miss Pettigrew bloom and have her world expanded made for a very happy
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listen. There were times when I felt that I was watching the beginnings of the relationship between Rebecca and Mrs. Danvers, but of course the twisted darkness wasn't here. This was delightful.
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LibraryThing member hardlyhardy
I enjoy watching both Amy Adams ("Sunshine Cleaning," "Julie & Julia," "Charlie Wilson's War") and Frances McDormand ("Blood Simple," "Fargo") in movies, so seeing them together in "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" was a treat. In a bookstore recently I found the Winifred Watson novel on which the
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film was based, and that is a treat, too.

Although she lived well into her 90s, Watson wrote just six novels, of which "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" is the best known. Published in 1938, the novel created quite a stir in its day, and more than 70 years later remains entertaining reading. The edition I read was issued in 2008.

The movie, I was glad to see, follows the book closely. Most of the differences, in my view, favor the movie, but those differences are insignificant.

The story is about a middle-aged governess, Guinevere Pettigrew, who can't hold a job because, well, she just doesn't like children that much. An employment agency sends her, by mistake it turns out, to Delysia LaFosse, a gorgeous young singer with no children, but more men in her life at that moment than most women have in a lifetime. Miss LaFosse, it seems, just cannot say no to anyone. She is in bed with one man when Miss Pettigrew knocks on the door. Another man will be coming by at any moment. A third has asked her to marry him. And there are hints of others in the wings.

Miss Pettigrew, although never actually hired, is put to work right away straightening up Miss LaFosse's life. Meanwhile, Miss LaFosse straightens out Miss Pettigrew's life.

The story covers just one day, but what a day it is. Miss Pettigrew experiences things she previously has seen only in movies. She wears glamorous clothes, goes to a night club, tastes alcohol for the first time, finds love, gets her first kiss and even makes another woman jealous. Meanwhile, Miss LaFosse and those in her circle soon find Miss Pettigrew indispensable. She is so efficient at solving seemingly insolvable problems, so quick with her mind, so nimble at getting people to do what she wants.

It's an amusing story, and the original illustrations by Mary Thomson add to the experience. If only we could all have a day like Miss Pettigrew has where we seemingly can do no wrong.
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LibraryThing member iammbb
I'm so glad that "they" turned this book into a movie.

If not for the movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I'm thinking that this book, which I also thoroughly enjoyed, might have never crossed my radar.

And that would have been a shame.

The book better conveys Guinevere Pettigrew's internal turmoil and
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uncertainty than the movie (don't books always do so?) and there are character and plot differences between the two which serve both equally well.

Watson charmingly describes the trepidation and elation with which the poor, desperate Miss Pettigrew gets caught up in the social whirlwind of Miss LaFosse.

All of that and happy endings all around, too!
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LibraryThing member suetu
Miss Pettigrew made my day!

Guinevere Pettigrew has never sworn—not even in her own head. She’s never told a black lie, and precious few white ones. And she’s never been kissed. Miss Pettigrew is a lady. Alas, she’s a down on her luck lady, currently between positions as a governess, and
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times are hard. It is with no small amount of desperation that she knocks at the address the employment agency supplied for an interview. After about five minutes of steady rapping, the door is flung open by a somewhat frenzied young woman in a negligée. Without so much as stopping to ask who she is, the woman breathlessly drags Miss Pettigrew into her drama-filled life. Her immediate goal is to ease her lover out the door gracefully before her other lover arrives. So begins a whirlwind romance—a romance between the older, wiser, but frightfully insecure Miss Pettigrew and the kind-hearted but flighty Delysia LaFloss, actress and nightclub singer.

Readers who saw the 2008 film of Winifred Watson’s obscure comedy, first published in 1938, may remember the opening I described. But after the first couple of scenes, the details of the novel diverge. What remains the same is the spirit of the tale, the absolutely heart-warming characters, and the delightful humor. I was amazed at how well the comedy held up. This book could have been written today—with one big caveat…

Simply put, 1938 was a different time, and it was more than a little jarring when these wonderful, winning characters would suddenly come out with something astonishingly racist or anti-Semitic. It happens several times, and at one point the charming male lead suggests the adorable female lead might be in need of some “physical correction” occasionally. You can’t ignore it, but you must overlook it. It was a different time.

And despite that one big caveat, this is a novel I have fallen head over heals in love with. You will be praying just as fervently as Miss Petigrew for the doorbell to ring just one more time, and to see what adventure lies around the next corner. For Miss Petigrew, until now, has had a sad, lonely life. She starts the day somewhat rigid and judgmental, and watching her grow and blossom as the chapters count down the hours of one extraordinary day “24” style is a joy that no reader should be denied.

I actually listened to Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day as an unabridged audio book. It was read to perfection by Frances McDormand, the actress who brought Miss Pettigrew to life in the film. Her affection for the material must equal my own; I could hear the smile in her voice. In some ways, the novel reminds me of a racier, feminist counterpart to P.G. Wodehouse’s beloved Wooster and Jeeves tales. All I know is that this is the book I’m going to pull from the shelf the next time I’m in need of a pick-me-up. And I’m going to spend the next several decades haunting used book stores searching for an illustrated copy from the thirties. Miss Pettigrew has joined the ranks of my all-time favorites.
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LibraryThing member Herenya
An unsuccessful middle-aged governess who is looking for another job meets a night-club singer.

This is funny and joyful, and I appreciated the supportive female friendships. But as the story went on, I found myself a bit disappointed by Miss Pettigrew’s naivety and her willingness to discard her
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moral code to embrace the glamorous world she finds herself in… there’s something very superficial about it all.
And the racist overtones of Michael’s criticism of Delysia’s other lovers was distasteful rather than entertaining - a far larger dose of 1930s prejudice than I’d anticipated.

But the film adaptation is lovely, and addresses all my criticisms with the novel. (After I finished the book, I watched the film again.) I also enjoyed the story of the novel’s publication and republication.
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LibraryThing member piemouth
A charming novel written in the 30s about a governess who is sent by mistake to apply for a job as a lady's maid for a singer. The singer immediately takes her into her confidence and Miss Pettigrew spends the next 24 hours helping the lovely artiste and her friends with their love lives, being
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made over and being surprised at her own attractiveness, going to a party and night club, and emerging with a new life. The original pen and ink drawings add to the appeal.

Be warned: Since it's written in the 30s there are references to a man not being a suitable husband because he has traces of Jew, and an Italian not being fit to be in the room with a white woman.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
I so enjoyed Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by Winifred Watson that I was sad to see the end come so quickly. I listened to an audio version wonderfully narrated by Frances McDormand. This is a gentle tale, originally published in 1938, of a middle aged spinster governess coming to a job interview
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and getting totally caught up in the love life of her perspective employer, nightclub entertainer, Delysia Lafosse.

During the crowded day that follows, Miss Pettigrew manages to disentangle Delysia from the clutches of the “wrong man”, lines up the “right man”, aides another young lady in her romantic life, receives a makeover, attracts a man for herself, and becomes the toast of the young, fast, nouveau riche crowd. It is a day of firsts for Miss Pettigrew from cocktails to flirting and she enjoys every second of the glamour and excitement.

This is a charming story, full of humor and wry observations. Being a product of it’s time, unfortunately there are few racial slurs, but overall this story of a down-on-her-luck governess is light-hearted and fun and reminded me of a fairy-tale. I absolutely recommend this captivating escape read.
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LibraryThing member SimonW11
A prewar tale of a downtrodden governess who has been holding desperately to her virtues and her gentility while her lot worsens. She applies for a job and finds herself thrust into a world of nightclubs, cocaine and promiscuity. triumphing at every turn.

Though it was funny,I found Miss
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Pettigrew's desperation far easier to beleve in than the optomistic humour. She is a vicars daughter and at one stage I found myself comparing her lot with that of the one Mayhew encountered in Hyde Park, forced by poverty and circumstances to prostitute herself in the darkest corners of the park where no one could see how unapealing she was. Households were contracting rapidly at this period and a Governess's post was more precarious than most. Her inablity to visualise any option other than the workhouse was infectious.

But the most jarring thing for modern readers. Is I suspect the range and varieties of prejudices displayed.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
This book is just utterly charming. A frazzled governess responds to a job posting only to find herself thrown into a world of glitz and glamour. She’s quickly caught up in the beautiful, but irresponsible Delysia LaFosse’s crazy life. Multiple suitors, beautiful gowns, and drinks at all hours
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of the day leave Miss Pettigrew in a happy haze. She’s overwhelmed at first, but the decides to savor every moment; each drink, every bite of ice cream and the feel of her luxurious borrowed velvet dress. After a life of ordinary years, she's embracing this extraordinary day.

The thing that made this book work so well for me is Miss Pettigrew herself. She is so sweet and sincere, but she’s also completely baffled be the situation she’s stumbled upon. She's completely out of place in this foreign social scene but she's also delighted by it. Even though she's only known Miss LaFosse for a few hours, she's becomes a loyal and protective friend.

Her innocence also allows her to be more upfront than others are. She answers questions with a stark honesty that’s both startling and refreshing to her new friends. I love that she discovers she has an unexpected streak of spunk and she’s a bit saucy.

The supporting characters, especially Joe, were all so much fun. Michael, Nick, Phil, Miss Dubarry and Tony, we meet them all over the course of one day in Miss Pettigrew’s life. My lovely Persephone edition has small illustrations that made the book even more enjoyable. It’s a quick read and felt like the literary equivalent of drinking champagne, all bubbling bliss.

There are a few incredibly racist lines (aka don’t marry him, he looks a bit Jewish and you should stick to your own kind), but for a novel published on the 1930s that's pretty normal. It still makes me sad every time I come across it though. What stupid prejudices we develop as a society.

The story of how the book came to be back in print is just as wonderful as the novel itself. One woman’s mother introduced her to the book at a young age. She took it with her to college, lent it to a friend and eventually recommended it to Persephone as a potential book for their new collection. She was then hired to write the introduction and while researching the author, she realized the 93-year-old woman was still alive and she had the chance to meet and interview her! What a testament to the impact a book can have on a single individual. If not for that woman’s love of the book, I may never have had the chance to read it. You never know where the journey of reading a new book will take you.

I was left wondering what other literary gems have fallen by the wayside over the years. I'm grateful for publishers like Persephone for trying to bring some great ones back into circulation.

“‘Then you don’t believe the wedding-bells should sound like closing-time?’ asked Michael with rising spirits.
‘Though an outside observer, I’ve been on the inside of many marriages. This old-fashioned idea of settling down on marriages,’ lectured Miss Pettigrew carefully, ‘is quite right in its way, as long as the right couple settles down together. But if the right couple don’t wish to settle down, they do not cease to be right.’”

“Miss Pettigrew felt the most glorious, exhilarating sensation of excitement she had ever experienced, ‘This,’ thought Miss Pettigrew, ‘is Life. I have never lived before.”
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
This 1938 novel tells a charming little story about a hard on her luck spinster who discovers life can be full of surprise when, applying for a job as a governess, she knocks at the wrong door. Instead of the disagreeable housewife she usually must contend with in her line of work, at which she
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isn't exactly competent, she meets with a beautiful vision of a girl, just as glamorous and delightful as the ones Guinevere Pettigrew has only seen at the movies, her one greatest guilty pleasure until then. In less than twenty-four hours filled with thrilling events, the likes of which Guinevere has never experienced firsthand before, this straight-laced vicar’s daughter discovers things about herself she never knew she had in her.

In the wrong hands, this quaint little story might have been a sickeningly-sweet kind of affair, which is absolutely not the case here. I had stumbled on the movie adaptation on television one day, which is when I experienced my first brief love affair with Miss Pettigrew, as portrayed by the remarkably talented Frances McDormand. The novel has even greater delights to offer, if only because one gets to spend more time with this unlikely heroine, who serendipitously sees her life transformed like a 1930s middle-aged Cinderella.
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LibraryThing member aemurray
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book. Sweet gem of a book.
LibraryThing member sandpiper
An utterly enchanting, heart-warming book. Miss Pettrigrew, an unemployed governess, arrives for an interview for a new post. She is swept into the magical world of Miss LaFosse and her confusing array of boyfriends and suitors. Sherry is consumed. Before luncheon! Miss Pettrigrew, initially taken
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aback by the hedonistic lifestyle of her would-be employer, starts to revel in it, and discovers she has an uncanny knack for sorting out the problems of her new friend. But as Miss Pettrigrew savours the fun, she fears it cannot last - what will happen at the end of her day?

Wholeheartedly recommended reading if you are feeling at all down - this book cannot fail to lift your spirits and make you laugh.
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LibraryThing member Lindsayg
This was such a quick fun read. Miss Pettigrew, a poor out-of-work nanny, shows up looking for a job on the doorstep of beautiful nightclub singer. Immediately she's plunged in to a world filed with drama, and also kindness, that she'd never expected. It's funny, well-written, and had a cozy
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atmosphere that was just what I was in the mood for.
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LibraryThing member jaimjane
This is a funny and utterly charming book. It is also illustrated.
LibraryThing member Nikkles
Miss Pettigrew is a wonderfully funny and inspiring book. It just makes you feel good. The characters are all very well developed for such a short book that moves rather quickly through one day and you really pull for all the characters happiness. It goes to show that a good story about life will
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ring true no matter when it was written. I must recommend the book highly. My copy also has the original drawing in it, which are fantastic and really add to the 30s vibe when reading the book.
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LibraryThing member reeread
Miss Pettigrew mistakenly goes to apply for a post as governess but is caught up in the complicated tangle of Delysia LaFosse's life. Miss Pettigrew experiences and embraces the situations she has never tasted before, as a poor but genteel spinster. She does indeed live for a day.....with the
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promise of a lot more living to come.
A taste, a snapshot, a slice of someone's life which makes you wonder what comes next. Except it would be spoilt if it did go on.
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LibraryThing member CatieN
Miss Pettigrew is middle-aged, prim and proper, and out of a job. She has experience as a governess, but the employment agency sends her to an interview to be a maid to a nightclub singer, Ms. LaFosse, who is beautiful and dramatic and attracts many handsome and dangerous men. Miss P is drawn into
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the excitement and feels like she is truly living for the first time in her life. Lovely, delightful book and a quick read.
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LibraryThing member pt1208
I saw the movie before reading the book. Frances Dormand and Amy Adams portrayed such interesting characters I wanted to read the book. I bought - and it was way too expensive, but I thoroughly enjoyed it - even more than the movie.
LibraryThing member dsc73277
A highly enjoyable read. Set in the inter-war years, it is a comic tale about a very strait laced governess who finds herself spending the day in the company of a glamorous night club singer with at least three men in her life. Miss Pettigrew starts out shocked by what she sees, but ends up having
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a thoroughly good time and sowing the seeds for a transformation in her own life.

I think the key ingredient is the contrast that exist between what Miss Pettigrew thinks, and what she says and does. Her inner monologue is restrained by the strict morals that have hitherto underpinned her life, but she is so desperate not to lose what she thinks is her last chance for a job that she ends up having to act like a very different and far more confident person. I know there was a recent movie adaptation of this book and find myself curious as to how they managed to convey the character's inner thoughts. If the film makers did not even try, then much will have been lost.

There are a couple of passing anti-Jewish references which may offend our modern sensibilities. It would be interesting to know how the author Winifred Watson felt about these passages later in life, particularly given that she died as recently as 2002.
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Language

Original publication date

1938

Physical description

256 p.; 5.5 inches

ISBN

190646202X / 9781906462024

Local notes

fiction
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