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Book Review of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Persephone Originals)

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Persephone Originals)
reviewed on + 289 more book reviews


A short, whimsical read from the list of 1001 books you must read before you die, this book takes place over approximately twenty-four hours. Miss Pettigrew, a frumpy, almost middle-aged governess, is plunged into another world as an employment agency mistakenly sends her to the flat of the beautiful actress and nightclub singer Miss LaFosse. There's more of a fairy-tale feel to it than the film adaptation, as well as stereotypes from the 1930s when it was first published. I also learning about the author, Winifred Watson, from the introduction: apparently she thought she could do better than the novels she was reading during downtime at work, and went on to write six published works before giving up writing when her son was born.