Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Winifred Watson. 1938. 234 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Miss Pettigrew pushed open the door of the employment agency and went in as the clock struck quarter past nine.
Premise/plot:
Miss Guinevere Pettigrew is down on her luck. It is a matter of utmost
urgency that she get a job--a post--that very day. So she sets off to
interview for governess at a MISS LaFosse's house. When she arrives,
she's in for a shock...or two...or three. But while at first things just
seem to happen around her--she's an observer of the DRAMA--soon Miss
Pettigrew finds herself a LIVING part of the DRAMA and ACTION. This may
just be a life-changing day after all. Miss Pettigrew finds herself
NEEDED by Miss LaFosse whose love life is a complete and total wreck.
Could a middle-aged spinster who has never been in love, never been
kissed, be just the person needed to save Miss LaFosse...and her
friends?!
My thoughts: Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day is a
DELIGHTFUL romantic comedy. All the "action" is implied and off-screen,
which is just how I prefer it. Miss LaFosse no doubt about it has a
TANGLED love life juggling three different men: Phil, Nick, and Michael.
But despite all that's going on in her personal life, there's something
PG about the book itself. It never once felt like SMUT. But I am
digressing.
I definitely enjoyed seeing life through Miss
Pettigrew's eyes. She was a LOVELY character to spend a day with. I
really loved almost all of the characters: even the ones that tended
more towards love-to-hate or hate-to-love. Like Nick. There were just so
many scenes that almost sparkled; I could definitely see why this would
be a WONDERFUL movie for any era. I have not seen the movie adaptation
from 2008. (I probably won't see it for a while because of COVID). But I
imagine it would have been awesome as a black and white film from the
1930s or 40s.
Favorite quote(s):
"When I was born my feet were only made to carry eight pounds. The rest of me has grown out of proportion." (190)
"Talk just happened. No difficulty. It simply arrived." (190)
© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
I also really liked this one, and you may be interested to hear that they were going to make a film of it, but WW2 intervened. I did see the recent film, but the story has been changed to a rather sentimental Hollywood tale, which I think rather spoils it. Still enjoyable though, if you haven't read the book.
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