In addition, each Persephone Book comes with a bookmark using the endpaper design. Persephone Books come in a uniform shade of grey, each featuring a distinct endpaper that has been chosen to match the mood and date of the book. I also like the illustrations by Mary Thomson that bring to life the (sometimes incredulous) scenarios that Miss Pettigrew finds herself in. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day makes for a lighthearted and entertaining read – perfect for a lazy afternoon or after a hard week’s work. I enjoyed both books tremendously but for different reasons.

This is the second novel that I’ve read from Persephone Books the first being Fidelity by Susan Glaspell. The fleshpots called : the music bewitched : dens of iniquity charmed… She could not deny that this way of sin, condemned by parents and principles, was a great deal more pleasant than the lonely path of virtue. Her long years of virtue counted for nothing. In one short day, at the first wink of temptation, she had not just fallen, but positively tumbled, from grace. You can’t help but want to root for Miss Pettigrew, who is self-deprecating and especially charming because of her refreshing honesty, good heart and clear mind. The result: a heartwarming comedy of events that had me grinning throughout. In this one serendipitous day, she does all these and more. The former is looking for a governess job and Miss LaFosse, a maid as well as love, marriage and fame.īrought up by conservative parents, Miss Pettigrew had never wore any makeup, kissed a man or went to a nightclub. The protagonist, Guinevere Pettigrew, is a strait-laced 40-year-old spinster sent by an employment agency to the apartment of Delysia LaFosse, a beautiful nightclub singer.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is a delightful tale set in 1930s London. Lo and behold, I chanced upon a secondhand copy of Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day at Skoob Books! So I headed to Skoob Books, which is a few streets from Persephone Books. I was held back by work and didn’t make it to the shop before it closed. When I was in London recently, I wanted to visit Persephone Books to check out this novel amongst a few others.

I had read several positive reviews about Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day but had always been hesitant about paying £12 for what seemed like a fairy tale. … to see for one day how life could be lived, so that for all the rest of her dull, eventful days, when things grew bad, she could look back in her mind and dwell on the time when for one perfect day she, Miss Pettigrew, lived.

Winifred watson books