Product Description

'Why has it taken more than half a century for this wonderful flight of humor to be rediscovered?' - "Guardian". 'The sweetest grown-up book in the world' - "Sunday Times". 'Everyone, no matter how poor or prim or neglected, has a second chance to blossom in the world' - "Daily Mail," in reference to "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day". A major film to be released in 2008 and starring Frances McDormand, "Miss Pettigrew Lives for Day" is a delightful, funny, lighthearted novel. First published in 1938, it was reissued in the United Kingdom in 2000, complete with thirty-five original illustrations, and has sold over 22,000 copies. Miss Pettigrew, an approaching-middle-age governess, was accustomed to a household of unruly English children.When her employment agency sends her to the wrong address, her life takes an unexpected turn. The alluring nightclub singer, Delysia LaFosse, becomes her new employer, and Miss Pettigrew encounters a kind of glamor that she had only met before at the movies. Over the course of a single day, both women are changed forever. Winifred Watson (1907-2002) grew up in Newcastle, and was a secretary until, in 1935, she married Leslie Pickering, the manager of a timber firm. She wrote six novels in all, but after the birth of her son in 1941 she stopped writing and lived quietly in Newcastle for the rest of her life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
WINIFRED WATSON was brought up in Newcastle, where her father owned three shops. Educated at St Ronan's School, Berwick-on-Tweed, she was a secretary until, in 1935, aged 28, she married Leslie Pickering, the manager of a timber firm. She wrote Fell Top in 1935 and Odd Shoes a year later, 'two rather strong dramas...but when they received a book that was fun - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day [1938] - they would not accept it...I can remember to this day looking up at the publisher and saying, "You are wrong, Miss Pettigrew is a winner." But he just looked stubborn. I wrote another straight novel [Upyonder, 1938] and, when they did publish Miss Pettigrew, I was proved right... France published it, Australia, and even Germany was about to only the war came.' Winifred Watson published two more novels, but stopped writing not long after the birth of her son in 1941. She lived in Newcastle for the rest of her life and died there in 2002.

Customer Reviews

Delicious
Such a delicious fairytale. One of those books that leaves you with a big sense of loss when you've finished it and drives you to a bookshop in search of titles by the same author (unfortunately there aren't any others). Vivid, funny and utterly unputdownable. Immerse yourself - it's like having a long bubble bath with a chilled bottle of champagne by your side.

Fabulous
This is a perfect book for escaping from the humdrum life of the credit crunch era - it's heartwarming and sweet, funny and well written.

I bought this (and Someone at a Distance, Dorothy Whipple) in an airport bookshop, having never heard of either author, and am delighted to have done so.

It was published in 1938, and tells of glamour, decadence (well, 1930s decadence!) through the eyes of a downtrodden (and not very good!) nursery maid who happens upon the sparkling life of (gasp!) nightclub Miss La Fosse by happy accident.

It's a bit Breakfast at Tiffany's meets Enid Blyton - delightful!

feel good fantasy
'Miss Pettigrew pushed open the door of the employment agency and went in as the clock struck a quarter past nine.'

The original line drawings are delightful in this hour by hour description of Miss Pettigrew's day. It's apt it should be revived in the age of the makeover and personal assistants to celebrities - but I think the real reason for its success is the same kind of feel good factor we get from 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Miss Pettigrew is saved from poverty and embraces life to the full once more.