Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day in Crazy Challenge Connection

Apr 24, 2015 Book Concierge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, library, concierge, strong-women, women-writers, movie, humor, british

Miss Pettigrew is a down-on-her luck, middle-aged governess – and not a very good one at that. Her last position has ended and she cannot make her rent. Her agency sends her on one last appointment, but when she arrives at the apartment she finds a nightclub singer rather than a family with children. The lovely Miss LaFosse, however, needs help – not with children but with the three (3!) men in her life; and Miss Pettigrew is just the sort of woman to take charge of the situation. What happens o ...more

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Jul 25, 2013 Chris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: united-kingdom, audiobook, 2016owned, humor

Bravo!
The story is a solid four stars, but the audio performance by Frances McDormand is five stars. It is a one-woman show.
The book description on GoodReads is not quite accurate - and that changes the whole story. Miss Pettigrew is a truly down-on-her-luck, middle-aged spinster with a work history of being a not-very-good governess. She has lost all confidence in herself. When the agency accidentally sends her to the wrong address to apply for a new position, she does NOT end up working for Bravo!
The story is a solid four stars, but the audio performance by Frances McDormand is five stars. It is a one-woman show.
The book description on GoodReads is not quite accurate - and that changes the whole story. Miss Pettigrew is a truly down-on-her-luck, middle-aged spinster with a work history of being a not-very-good governess. She has lost all confidence in herself. When the agency accidentally sends her to the wrong address to apply for a new position, she does NOT end up working for the beautiful and vivacious Delysia LaFosse. That is the main point of the story. Miss Pettigrew never gets to explain why she's there, and that is what sets up the most remarkable day in the drab and weary woman's like.
The two women careen from on incident to the next, with Miss Pettigrew slowly finding a courage and capability that she didn't know she had. It is one of that oldest of tropes, the stranger in a strange land, the misfit who arrives and fixes everyone else's problems. And it is delightful. I couldn't help but picture Delysia as Jean Harlow.
There is one downside to the book, and readers should be aware of it. For the most part, the book holds up well for having been written in the 1930s. When Miss Pettigrew arrives at Delysia's, there's a man in her bed. These are not prim and genteel people. However, it is also - and unfortunately - true to it's time in that Miss Pettigrew does make some anti-Semitic remarks and no one seems to have a problem with a man hitting a woman. It is uncomfortable and even unnecessary - but it's there.
Back to McDormand. This is not your standard narration. This is a brilliant performance. She captures each character perfectly. She speeds up when the dialog really gets going and slows down in all the right places. She manages to bring each and every character distinctly to life - which is great because there's a lot of dialog where the different speakers are not identified. Really, really enjoyable.
The story holds up remarkable well for something written in the 1930s. ...more

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