The other night I was watching a political talk show on TV when an ad came on for a new movie called Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
Now where had I heard that title before? A little research disclosed that it's a 1938 novel by Winifred Watson republished in 2000 by Persephone Books and that I had a copy. I read it immediately; it took only about five hours to read. And what a treat!
It's the story of a spinster lady, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew, who was strictly brought up by her father, a clergyman. She has been earning a living, merely enough to scrape by, as a governess, a job to which she is abysmally mismatched. Having just lost her post she goes to an employment agency who send her out to a potential employer, Miss Delysia LaFosse.
Miss LaFosse is the stage name of a showgirl who is having trouble balancing her various beaux. Miss Pettigrew shows remarkable creativity in keeping these men from discovering traces of one another in Miss LaFosse glamorous flat and offers sensible guidance as Miss LaFosse tries to decide which of them she really loves.
Along comes Miss Edythe Dubarry (another nom de guerre), a friend of Miss LaFosse and a very successful beauty shop proprietress. Between them, Miss LaFosse and Miss Dubarry convert Miss Pettigrew into a sizzling number and take her along with them nightclubbing.
Realizing that her benefactresses are unaware that she is merely a job applicant, Miss Pettigrew feels guilty allowing them to shower their attention and affection on her, but she decides what the heck, it will never happen again, tomorrow it will all be gone, why not go ahead and really live for a day? And so she does.
This is a description of the book. The movie changes the declasse scene to London high life and upgrades the characters three or four ratchets in class and good taste. For example, the man who shows a romantic interest in the newly hatched Miss Pettigrew is a fashion designer in the movie. In the book he was a corset manufacturer. Shirley Henderson, the actress who plays Edythe Dubarry was Marie Melmotte in The Way We Live Now. Miss Pettigrew is played by Frances McDormand.