Monday 28 June 2010

Mrs 'Arris (Bloomsbury Group book)


Originally titled Flowers for Mrs Harris, Mrs Harris goes to Paris by Paul Gallico, is another one of the Bloomsbury Group books published this summer. I think this was the title that most intrigued me from this summer's titles, partly because I knew that my friend Claire was one of the people who had suggested it to Bloomsbury for republication, but mainly because I had only encountered Paul Gallico once before in his novella The snow goose. This beautiful tale had me in such floods of tears aged eleven that I have been unable to read the book since. I knew that Mrs Harris was supposed to be an entertaining and enjoyable read and thus completely different to The Snow Goose.

From the start I was absolutely captivated. Mrs Harris, or rather Mrs 'Arris as she tends to think of herself, is a cockney charlady with a number of clients who she "does" for. One day she espies a beautiful Dior dress in the wardrobe of one of these people; a vivid contrast to her drab existence:
"Mrs Harris had always felt a craving for beauty and colour .......she stood before the stunning creation hanging in the wardrobe and found herself face to face with a new kind of beauty - an artificial one created by the hand of man the artist, but aimed directly and cunningly at the heart of woman. In that very instant she fell victim to the artist; at that very moment there was born within her the craving to possess such a garment"

Whilst doing the football pools one day sometime later, she has a premonition that she is going to win, and the yearning for the Dior dress comes back to her. She knows that when she wins she will be able to go to Paris and buy her own dress. Amazingly, she does win on the pools, but only £100, not even a quarter of the money she needs. But she sees this as a sign that she is meant to have the dress, and starts scrimping and saving. Finally she has enough money to go to Paris, where she does indeed get her dress but at the same time becoming involved with a cast of Parisian characters. The book began to remind me of Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; the ordinary person who has a wonderful adventure, developing in the process, but also touching other people's lives and changing them. She returns to London certainly changed by the experience, which turns out to have been so much more valuable than the dress itself. There is then a fantastic little twist in the plot towards the end which had me gasp out loud in shock; I want to say more about this episode but I don't want to spoil it!

After enjoying Mrs Harris goes to Paris so much I wondered what I would make of Mrs Harris goes to New York, the second Mrs Harris book which Bloomsbury have also released in this volume. I wondered whether or not any sequel could match it; a different story about the same woman might just be dull, and if it was too similar to the first book then it might not be so refreshing. Fortunately, I also enjoyed Mrs Harris goes to New York, a completely different but equally captivating read. This sees the indomitable Mrs Harris accompany one of her cleaning clients who is relocating to New York to settle in, but also using the opportunity to right a situation which has been on her mind for some time. The wonderful Dior dress makes an appearance too, being worn to dinner on the voyage over! Like the earlier book, I was gripped by Gallico's writing, finding it impossible to put the story down.

These hugely entertaining novels were so different from The Snow Goose that I'm wondering about the rest of Gallico's work - is it more akin to Mrs Harris or The Snow Goose or is it different again? But definitely one of my favourite reads of this year, and one that I'd recommend as something a bit different for a summer read.

And finally, I'm now extremely keen to read the rest of Mrs Harris' adventures - Bloomsbury please can you bring out Mrs Harris goes to Russia and Mrs Harris MP next summer please? As I commented on Elaine's blog about the same book - I'll camp out on their doorstep until they do!

17 comments:

  1. I so enjoyed this series. The Russian installment is my favorite, so I will keep my fingers crossed for you that Bloomsbury will publish it soon...I'd love to know what you think of it.

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  2. I really loved this book. The New York one not so much. And I think you are so right about how different they are from The Snow Goose. He also wrote The Posieden Adventure. How much different could that be?

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  3. Sounds fantastic - I MUST get these! Brilliant review.

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  4. I just order these soon although alot of that is to do with the wonderful covers!

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  5. Oh, gosh, the release of these two Mrs. 'Arris books is bringing back fond memories from my childhood! None of the sequels were ever quite as good for me as the original, though, with Mrs. 'Arris and the gorgeous dress.

    The other book by Paul Gallico I loved as a kid was The Abandoned (I believe it's called Jennie in the UK), which is about a boy who gets transformed into a cat. I never looked at cats the same way again!

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  6. The Snow Goose and Mrs Harris are starkly different, aren't they? Testimony to Gallico's prowess.

    Jenny and I have discussed in the past how wonderful Jennie the novel is; it's been twenty plus years since I read it but I loved it as a child.

    Here's hoping Bloomsbury listen to our ardent requests, as they listened to those of us who suggested the first installment(s). Thank you too for the mention and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  7. Verity you are a sufferagette for our time! This sounds very good and yes very similar in concept to Miss Pettigrew - when was it forst published?

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  8. So pleased you reviewed this - I now REALLY want to read it. Sounds like perfect summer reading.

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  9. LOVE books which have you gasping out loud! Wonderful review...you have me tempted!

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  10. This does sound like a real delight, I think its going to be the one I get to last though as have heard so many wonderful things I am bigging it up too much in my head. Lovely review Verity.

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  11. Psul Gallico is a magical writer. I've read most of his books and each can somehow touch the heart. I think my favorite may be Love of Seven Dolls, the story of a damaged young girl who is rescued by the puppets in a carnival show. She, in turn, rescues the puppeteer. The movie LiLi is based on this novelette. His short stories are also beautiful. He wrote one about the authenticity of a classical Roman sculpture that still gives chills, in a good way.

    I think he fell out of fashion because people considered him "sentimental." I am so glad that he is being republished.

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  12. Thanks for this Verity, 4 Paul Gallico books have now been reserved from the library, it's years since I read and enjoyed the Mrs Harris stories.

    I'm re-reading Paul Gallico's "The Hand of Mary Constable" from my own shelves, very different story altogether to the Mrs Harris books.

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  13. I finished reading The Hand of Mary Constable today. I hope to collect the 4 Mrs Harris books from the library tomorrow.

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  14. On your recommendation I bought this yesterday, and finished it today. It was excellent! I have Love of Seven Dolls - I'll let you know what it's like when I read it. Thanks for the review! x

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  15. Thanks for all the comments on this post - I'm sorry I didn't get around to replying at the time! I hope those of you that were tempted will let me know how you got on, and I hope to see more about Paul Gallico in the future!

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  16. I've not read the NY book but love the Paris and Russia adventures. I love the movie with Angela Lansbury and am watching it now. It lifts my spirits whenever I'm down. The books can't be beat for the wonderful writing but I do wish they had gone ahead with the plans for the Russia movie as well. Ms. Lansbury brings Mrs. 'Arris to life in such a lovely way. Now to find the other books and do some reading!

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  17. Ooh - I didn't realise that there is a movie! I have ordered it from Amazon - how very exciting!

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