Product Description

Disproving the theory that women can't read maps, this is the story of Phyllis Pearsall, the eccentric British artist who single-handedly mapped London's A-Z and created a publishing phenomenon. Born Phyllis Isobella Gross, her lifelong nickname was PIG. The artist daughter of a flamboyant Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and an Irish Italian mother, her bizarre and often traumatic childhood did not restrain her from becoming one of Britain's most intriguing entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires. After an unsatisfactory marriage, Phyllis, a 30-year-old divorcee, had to support herself and so became a portrait painter. It is doing this job and trying to find her patron's houses that Phyllis became increasingly frustrated at the lack of proper maps of London. Instead of just cursing the fact as many fellow Londoners probably did, Phyllis decided to do something about it. Without hesitation she covered London's 23,000 streets on foot during the course of one year, often leaving her Horseferry Road bedsit at dawn to do so. To publish the map, and in light of its enormous success, she set up her own company, The Geographer's Trust, which still publishes the London A-Z and that of every major British city.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47558 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Sarah Hartley is commissioning editor at the Daily Mail. Prior to that she worked on Tatler, Frank and most recently the Times. This is her first book.

Customer Reviews

Not what I expected
What attracted me to this book was the prospect of reading about the development of the A-Z map. Maybe I didn't read between the lines of the front cover properly. Anyway, I didn't really expect to spend quite so long reading about Mrs P's parents. It is not until page 204 that Mrs P decides to write the A-Z, and when it happens there is not enough detail. I admit that Mrs P's early life is interesting but I found the emphasis rather poorly balanced considering the book's main selling point. It is also written in a rather confusing manner. Has Sarah Hartley not heard of chronological order? While it moves froward in time in a general manner the narrative constantly flits backwards and forwards a few years, often leaving one confused as to what exactly has happened. Massive potential here in the subject but could have been executed better.

An absorbing account of this remarkable woman's life.
Right from the beginning of this book I was absorbed into the chaos of Phyllis Pearsall's family. Both she and her father were inveterate liars and throughout the book the reader is invited to make choices between different versions of the same incidents. This contributes to a somewhat haphazard account, but at the same time emphasises the difficulties which this extraordinary family encountered and overcame. Alongside the family dramas and romances there runs an informative account of the history and development of cartography, and a real insight into society life as seen by people 'on the fringe'.We get to know Phyllis as a daughter, sister, friend, wife and business woman - but above all we get to know her as an artist.I found her singlemindedness, determination and philosophical acceptance of set-backs quite inspiring. A satisfying and amusing read.

Mrs P did not create London's first A to Z atlas.
...

Phyllis Pearsall did not produce London's first A to Z. She produced the first atlas of London to be called an A to Z. Slightly different.

She did not tramp the streets mapping every road in London. This task had already been done by several others, including Bartholomews and Philip. She added some street numbers - very useful, but not quite as sensational.

Curiously, in her autobiography, 'From Bedsitter to Household Name', Pearsall steers clear of claiming to have produced the first London pocket atlas. In fact, she even alludes to the 'competition'. Perhaps she was bothered about law-suits which might have followed such a claim.

Anyway, Ms Hartley has, in a strange version of Chinese Whispers, taken Pearsall's odd, badly written autobiography, uncritically believed everything it claimed, added some points which it DIDN'T claim, and on such poor foundations has built a very wobbly building.

Once you accept that Pearsall did not produce London's first A to Z, then the whole house of (index) cards comes tumbling down...