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Product Description
Review
'Mrs Harris is one of the great creations of fiction - so real that you feel you know her, yet truly magical as well. I can never have enough of her' Justine Picardie 'It is almost impossible not to succumb to Gallico's spell' Times Literary Supplement 'Wherever she goes Mrs. Harris seems to sprinkle fairy dust over those she meets. YET she's very realistically drawn and the book is fraught with painful setbacks ... In the end Mrs. Harris' yearning for the dress is secondary. The friendships that are made because of her quest are what change her life forever. This book was a delight from start to finish' Worthwhilebooks.blogspot 'A heartwarming, engaging novelette' Bookmark
Product Description
Mrs Harris is a salt-of-the-earth London charlady who cheerfully cleans the houses of the rich. One day, when tidying Lady Dant's wardrobe, she comes across the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in her life - a Dior dress. In all the years of her drab and humble existence, she's never seen anything as magical as the dress before her and she's never wanted anything as much before. Determined to make her dream come true, Mrs Harris scrimps, saves and slaves away until one day, after three long, uncomplaining years, she finally has enough money to go to Paris. When she arrives at the House of Dior, Mrs Harris has little idea of how her life is about to be turned upside down and how many other lives she will transform forever. Always kind, always cheery and always winsome, the indomitable Mrs Harris takes Paris by storm and learns one of life's greatest lessons along the way. This treasure from the 1950s introduces the irrepressible Mrs Harris, part charlady, part fairy-godmother, whose adventures take her from her humble London roots to the heights of glamour.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This edition combines two books, Mrs Harris Goes To Paris and Mrs Harris Goes To New York. Both are set in the late 1950's. In the first book, Mrs Harris, a London charlady in her early 60's, dreams of owning a Christian Dior dress. She scrimps and saves to be able to realise her dream and the book follows the ups and downs of her personal journey. The story is light, charming and uplifting in nature. Not only is the main goal interesting but equally the effect that the indomitable Mrs Harris has on those she meets, of whatever class or station in life. In the second book, set a few years later, Mrs Harris is invited to accompany one of her employers, an American woman, to New York while she and her husband (who has had a massive promotion) re-establish themselves in society. Mrs Harris uses the opportunity to smuggle the child who lives next door to her, abandoned by his English mother and US GI father and who is being abused by his foster family, into the US to try to find his father and re-unite him. Of course, such an act of blind faith and naivity has some unexpected consequences which make the book very entertaining. Paul Gallico was a prolific American author who lived for some years in the UK. As such he has a very good feel for both cultures and the class distinctions of the time. In Mrs Harris he has created a powerful character who demonstrates all that was seen as good and to be admired in the British working class, namely, the capacity for hard work, grit and determination, a fine sense of what is right, and an independence of spirit and charm that breaks down all class barriers.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is actually two books in one: Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, and Mrs Harris Goes to New York. Mrs Harris Goes to Paris was originally published as Flowers for Mrs Harris, so be careful not to buy the same story under another title!
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is an enjoyable light read, perfect for dull grey winter days. A London char, Mrs Harris has a knack of endearing herself to everyone she meets from the lowliest person to the highest in the land. Admittedly this is a little whimsical but if you can suspend your disbelief the story jogs along quite nicely and has a good, and quite moral, twist at the end.
Mrs Harris Goes to New York is somewhat less successful in my view. Apart from Gallico's inability to reproduce genuine cockney speech, which irritates after a while, plausibility really is stretched to the limit in this tale in which she tries to reunite a GI child with his father.
This new Bloomsbury edition of the two-books-in-one is littered with mistakes and has been poorly proof-read. A shame as the cover design is rather good.
If you are new to Gallico, I would recommend you start with his wonderful animal stories such as "Jennie" and "Thomasina".
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is an enjoyable light read, perfect for dull grey winter days. A London char, Mrs Harris has a knack of endearing herself to everyone she meets from the lowliest person to the highest in the land. Admittedly this is a little whimsical but if you can suspend your disbelief the story jogs along quite nicely and has a good, and quite moral, twist at the end.
Mrs Harris Goes to New York is somewhat less successful in my view. Apart from Gallico's inability to reproduce genuine cockney speech, which irritates after a while, plausibility really is stretched to the limit in this tale in which she tries to reunite a GI child with his father.
This new Bloomsbury edition of the two-books-in-one is littered with mistakes and has been poorly proof-read. A shame as the cover design is rather good.
If you are new to Gallico, I would recommend you start with his wonderful animal stories such as "Jennie" and "Thomasina".
13 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am a uk guy , 62 yrs old and watched tv during its formative years of the 50's and 60's. During this period there was a series called the Adventures of Hiram Holliday, based on the novels of the same name, by Paul Gallico.
Recently my wife, who is 11 yrs younger than I, were ata car boot sail when we saw what looked like a 60's edition of the Mrs Harris series which I bought for sentimental reasons. The next day I was looking for it at home when my wife told me that she had started reading it and was loving it. Hence me ordering this volume from Amazon.
She has subsequently finished reading it and was over the moon with it. She said it lacked sophistication, sex and violence.......FANTASTIC. It was thye type of read that we need at times to take us away from the harsh realities of this life. A simple pleasure well enjoyed. Thank you Paul Gallico and Amazon.
Recently my wife, who is 11 yrs younger than I, were ata car boot sail when we saw what looked like a 60's edition of the Mrs Harris series which I bought for sentimental reasons. The next day I was looking for it at home when my wife told me that she had started reading it and was loving it. Hence me ordering this volume from Amazon.
She has subsequently finished reading it and was over the moon with it. She said it lacked sophistication, sex and violence.......FANTASTIC. It was thye type of read that we need at times to take us away from the harsh realities of this life. A simple pleasure well enjoyed. Thank you Paul Gallico and Amazon.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent read!
These two novels are priceless! I absolutely loved Mrs Harris the London char with buckets of charm. I highly recommend both books. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. Vivienne Ann Fenton
Charming Little Gems
Mrs Harris books are the ultimate feel-good stories. Paul Gallico pays homage to that British institution - the Char lady - and here we have a good, down to earth character who... Read more
Published 8 months ago by bookworm
Heartwarming read
Mrs Harris is very down to earth cleaning lady who gives the impression of the cockney Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Vivienne Serendipity
Light reading
Written in a different age. 1930's, with different expectations but with basic good honest values underlying . Oh that some things could remain the same. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mary Jones
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