Thursday, May 21, 2020

70. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

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:

Michelle Ann said...

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.