Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
My first thought when I finished this novel was: I’m going to buy this book.
My second thought was: I want to live in this book.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a very simple, very neat, very dialog-heavy book spanning a little over 200 pages. There are several characters you get to know throughout the book, but the most prominent are Miss LaFosse and Miss Guinevere Pettigrew.
There are no two characters more different. Miss LaFosse is everything you picture a young, careful actress living in 1930′s London to be. She is charming, full of life, laughter and gaiety. She juggles her lovers with a bit of difficulty, but ultimately laughs off any troubles that might come her way.
Miss Pettigrew comes from a hard life. A governess who hates what she does for a living, has never had a good steak and dresses like a dowdy old woman. She is witty and smart proving that there is more than meets the eye about her.
The first time I heard this story was when I took my mother to see the movie by the same name. I was charmed by the story, but parts of it felt a little… off. Having read the book now, I can understand why.
This is a sort of Cinderella story. There are really no “bad” villains though, and although you’d expect to dislike Miss LaFosse, she easily worms her way into your heart.
The thing I loved most about this book was the dialog. It was smart, fast-paced, witty, full of diversions and so alive it leaps off the page. It was so easy to lose myself in the story that I didn’t want to set it down.
I originally picked this book up for the 1001 Books Challenge.. but I have to say, if that challenge brings me more books like this one, I will be incredibly grateful to it. A beautiful, heart-warming story – there aren’t enough adjectives really to describe it.
