The gorgeous Persephone cover. Source
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY by Winifred Watson (published first in 1938) is a light, frothy Cinderella entertainment perfect for the day or night when too much of the real world encroaches. (I seem to be in that sort of mood lately.) I thoroughly enjoyed reading my beautifully designed Persephone reprint and did so quickly, beguiled by the story's fairy tale charm.
When fate and chance contrive together to change Miss Guinevere Pettigrew's unhappy life they do so quickly and without ado. The sad-sack Miss Pettigrew is a middle-aged impoverished daughter of a vicar, alone and desperately down on her luck in London. She's just been fired (yet again) from her latest governess post. The heretofore timid and easily frazzled Miss Pettigrew is really not cut out for the rigors or strictures of that sort of life.
Enter Miss Delysia LaFosse, a scatter-brained young London lovely living it up in a gorgeous London flat owned by a dangerous night club Lothario named Nick (who is away on business but due back soon). Not one to let opportunity go by, Miss LaFosse is anxious to climb the ladder of show biz success by snaring a part in a new musical being produced by Phil, an impetuous youth who's just spend the night in Delysia's bed. Waiting in the wings is the impatient Michael, the nephew of a corset tycoon who wants to marry Delysia. He is allowing her just one more chance to prove her love by finally accepting his proposal and chucking her life as a kept woman. But Delysia can't make up her mind - she needs a bit of managing. It's now or never - whom will she choose?
Into this complicated imbroglio of the heart enters Miss Pettigrew in the mistaken impression that she's being interviewed for yet another governess position. From the moment the beleaguered spinster rings the door bell and is promptly (if bewilderingly) welcomed into Miss LaFosse's topsy-turvy world, things will never be the same again
The long-lived author, Winifred Watson (1906 - 2002), only wrote six books. MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY is the fourth. This light-as-a-feather tale - more Alice in Wonderland than Cinderella perhaps - practically tells itself. The writing style seems effortless, smooth and unruffled even as the hours of Miss Pettigrew's surprising day tick by. In my view, this sort of sophisticated light-hearted thing is tricky - it can look easy, but in reality is very difficult to do well. The lightness must always be backed up by characters who belie that very lightness in some not very obvious way.
Miss Watson's dialogue is pert, intelligent, and seemingly of the moment. Everything that happens - even when you see it coming from ten miles away - seems fresh and new. It goes without saying that we want Miss Pettigrew to find her happiness and of course, she does.
What a charming and totally unexpected confection of a book. I loved it. I recommend it. I read it straight through, captivated by Miss Pettigrew's unlikely journey of self-discovery and very well deserved happy ending.
A tip: Skip the dreadful 2008 movie which made major changes in the plot for no reason I can think of. Even Ciarin Hinds (swoon) can't save a movie that took an effervescent delight and made it not so delightful, not so funny, not so sparkling, adding a grimness totally unsuited to Winifred Watson's sweetheart of a book. Frances McDormand is miscast as Miss Pettigrew, though perhaps with a better script and a better director she might possibly have managed it.
Amy Adams is awful in a Carol Lombard sort of role, as she mumbles her way through the part of the bubbly Delysia (technically speaking: the sound on this film is atrocious), not to mention Shirley Henderson as an unrecognizable Edythe Dubarry, supposedly Delysia's best friend. The screenplay inexplicably turns Edythe into a sharp-nosed blackmailing predator. So different from the likable girl in the book. Yegads!, please, just skip the movie.
P.S. It's Friday so don't forget to check in at Patti Abbott's blog, Pattinase, to see what other Forgotten (or Overlooked) Books other bloggers are talking about today.
Another case of the book being superior to the movie. That's usually the case, isnt' it? Seems most screenwriters cannot adapt anything for TV or the screen that was written prior to the 1950s and preserve it's period charm. Cynicism and irony seem to filter their way into these new "adapatations" and we are presented with characters who haven't a clue what life was like in their era. We end up watching actors try to capture a lost era while being forced to speak the writer's modernized ironical dialogue and behave like 21st century adults playing at dress up.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen the trailer for the movie and it looked like the kind of irritating period piece with miscast actors that I avoid like the plague. Amy Adams is an odd actress to me. She seems she would be perfectly suited for comic roles but she doesn't have a lick of comedic skill or timing. Even in interviews she comes across as vacant and humorless. I can only watch her in dramatic character parts in which she does very well.
didn't read the book but I saw a movie about Pettigrew, infact I have it on my watch list on Netflix. Lot's of yard work, too much for a 78 yr. old. after 2 hours I peterout.
ReplyDeleteyvonne
I've given up yard work, Yvonne and I'm younger than you. I have no stamina anymore. Age is a good excuse. Ha.
DeleteOh John, we are in complete and total agreement. What is it about Americans that they can't do period pieces? Is it the writing? Is it the forced casting? Is it the egos run amok? I don't know. The Brits do this with lively charm and even dedication. Why can't we?
ReplyDeleteMaybe because the things we attempt are not OUR history? We have no real feeling for it? I don't know. I tend to think it's the money men's fault as they always want some BIG STAR no matter if it unbalances the casting or the story.
Just guessing.
But this movie was such a disaster that I can't even begin to explain my dismay. AND YET, some people liked it. My thinking is that they probably hadn't read the book or maybe hadn't liked the book to begin with.
Oh, interesting! I admit, I loved the 2008 movie with Amy Adams, but I never read the book, although it's on my "to read someday" list. If it's the charming fairy tale you say it is, it sounds like it might be right up my alley. Now I'm super curious to read it and compare the two.
ReplyDelete(BTW, I feel kinda awkward that my first comment here is in slight disagreement! I've been reading your blog for a while and enjoy your reviews very much. :)
You must read the book, Ruth. It's a quick read so it won't lure you away from your regular reading for long. I guarantee it. :)
DeleteWelcome to the blog and thanks for the kind words. Don't feel awkward - why should you?
Feel free to disagree if you like. I don't mind. John and I often disagree. That makes things much more interesting. If we all agreed about everything, think how boring it would all be. That's the way i look at it anyway.
Yvette, I never actually read the book, but you've certainly gotten me interested in the book! I'm surprised that Frances MacDormand, one of Team Bartilucci's favorites, would be lacking, but with your comments, I can see why. I'll keep an eye out for the book, thanks to your suggestions, my friend!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Dorian. The book's not hard to find. Read it. You'll love it. :)
DeleteI agree with you about the book & the movie!
ReplyDeleteI even tried watching the movie again the other day just to make sure I'd gotten it right - boy, I couldn't even finish it. It's just so awful.
DeleteSounds a little fizzy for my taste, but now and then I head for something light (that's usually when Wodehouse comes into play).
ReplyDeleteIf you're in the mood, Kelly (even if only it falls on one day a year), this is a fun book to curl up with. :) Not Wodehouse, but almost - in a slightly more 'serious' way and from a woman's point of view. I love listening to Wodehouse on audio (have just recently dowloaded one of the books) but I've tried and tried over the years to read Wodehouse and just never got into it. Maybe now's the time.
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