154. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (and Mrs. Harris Goes to New York)

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs. Harris Goes to New York. 1958/1959. Omnibus edition 2022. 320 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence from Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris: The small, slender woman with apple-red cheeks, greying hair, and shrewd, almost naughty little eyes sat with her face pressed against the cabin window of the BEA Viscount on the morning flight from London to Paris.

First sentence from Mrs. Harris Goes to New York: Mrs Ada Harris and Mrs Violet Butterfield, of Numbers 5 and 9 Willis Gardens, Battersea, London, respectively, were having their nightly cup of tea in Mrs Harris's neat and flower-decorated little flat in the basement of number five.

Premise/plot: This is an omnibus edition of the first two Mrs. Harris novels by Paul Gallico. In the first book, Mrs Ada Harris (or Ada 'Arris) fixates on the dream of buying/owning a Dior dress. She saves for three years to earn enough money to travel to Paris and buy the dress. While she's spent years dreaming about this experience, she finds that she doesn't necessarily daydream about actually wearing the dress [herself.] In the second book, Mrs. Ada Harris and her friend Mrs Violet Butterfield travel to New York with Mr and Mrs Schreiber. She uses this opportunity to look for the [American] father of Henry Brown. She's convinced he'd be better off with his biological father instead of his foster [or adopted] parents the Gussets who are abusive. How hard could it be to find a man named George Brown living someone in the United States? So, naturally, of course, she kidnaps the child and sneaks him aboard the ship they're traveling on.

My thoughts: I watched two adaptations of the first book Mrs Harris Goes to Paris. It is a charming SHORT novel [or novella]. Mrs Harris is a super-lovable busy-body. She's like everyone's fairy godmother--of sorts. Just by being her lovable, caring self, she improves the lives of those around her. Her beauty comes from within, and she brightens up the lives of those she knows [and interacts with]. The novel does differ from both adaptations of the novel. Neither movie has the book ending. 

The second novel is quite a bit longer than the first one. The focus is on Mrs Harris' search for the young Henry's father. She has better luck finding and buying the perfect dress [named Temptation] than she does tracking down the boy's biological father. And when the boy's father is found--no thanks to Mrs Harris' meddling or searching, it's an absolute disaster. The happy-ish ending is no thanks to Mrs Harris, not really. Mr. Schreiber is the one who saves the day. For me, the book was entirely MEH.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews