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    Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York
    Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York
    Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York
    Ebook321 pages7 hours

    Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York

    By Paul Gallico

    4/5

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    ***A BOOK CLUB PICK FROM THE QUEEN CONSORT'S READING ROOM***

    Now a major film, starring Leslie Manville,     Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs and Lucas Bravo

    '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

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateAug 9, 2022
    ISBN9781639731831
    Author

    Paul Gallico

    Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. He is perhaps best remembered for his short story, The Snow Goose and for the novel The Poseidon Adventure, which was made into a very famous film adaptation in 1972.

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    Reviews for Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York

    4/5

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    • 2/5
      Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris / Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris / Flowers for Mrs. Harris is a 1958 novella by Paul Gallico.It renders Mrs. Harris' voice in heavy faux-Cockney ("ain't it luverly"). It's basically a morality tale about hubris, with the ending signaled from the very beginning. It is fairly condescending towards Mrs. Harris.In 2023 I found the book's style, stereotypes and worldview made it basically unreadable.The book has been reimagined as a 2022 movie which is much better in every respect. The movie significantly alters almost everything in the book except for the core story idea. The movie is more interesting, with more depth, better female characters, and a better character for Mrs. Harris. No ridiculous faux-Cockney, just a hard-working woman with an improbable dream. If you enjoyed the movie, I really strongly recommend that you do not read the book.I haven't read Mrs. Harris Goes to New York (1960).
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. I happened to also be reading Crouch's fast-paced Recursion at the same time, so Crouch kept calling me back. Mrs. Harris is meant for someone needing a slower little jaunt. Both are great books, but fit vastly different needs.
    • 5/5
      Mrs. Harris is an extraordinary char woman. Kind beyond measure, hard working, thoughtful, caring, and cheerful, she makes life easier for everyone around her. One day, seeing a gorgeous gown in the closet of one of the rich ladies she cleans for, she falls in love with a Dior dress. Now, nothing would do except she had to own one, too. Scrimping, saving, and gambling a bit, after three years, she has enough money to purchase a dress, and then begins her adventure of buying her gown. It’s a lovely and delightful tale, but not all is happy. Still, Mrs. Harris makes the best possible spin on what she has and teaches us some positive lessons along the way. In the second tale, she and her friend go to New York, hoping to secure a better home for a little boy whom no one seems to want. Smuggling him with them into the ship to New York wasn’t too hard, but gettin him actually into the USA proved to be a bit of a sticky wicket! Luckily, she has friends where she has been, and she never fails to be a friend to all. These stories were written in 1958 and 1960, but are still delightful to read and quite enjoyable. Well written with a cast of great characters, Mrs. Harris’s adventures are highly entertaining.
    • 3/5
      Light, easy read from the 1960's. I was interested because they made a movie out of it, but figured out I'd read it a long time ago.
    • 4/5
      I was in the mood for something light so I plucked this book off my TBR pile (which is way too big to be called just a pile, perhaps mountain is more appropriate). When I was a kid one of my favourite books was Thomasina by this same author. It was actually published before Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris but I had never managed to read it although I have read a few other Gallico works. When I went looking for a copy it came with the sequel so I polished off both the Paris and the New York adventures of Mrs. 'ArrisIn the Paris book Mrs. Ada Harris works as a daily char for a number of people in the fashionable area of London known as Belgravia. In the home of one of her customers she finds two Dior dresses hanging in the closet waiting for Lady Dant to decide which one to wear. Mrs. 'Arris (as a Cockney she drops her haitches) is gobsmacked by how lovely they are. Although she has nowhere to wear such a creation she comes up with a plan to save enough money to go to Paris and buy a dress from Dior. Little does she know that one does not just walk in off the street and find a rack of dresses to try on but that is all part of the story. Mrs. 'Arris meets a wide variety of people from a fashion model to a marquis and forms friendships with them all. And she acquires the dress of her dreams.In the New York story Mrs. 'Arris and her friend Mrs. Butterfield accompany another client who is moving from London back to New York and is concerned that she won't find the quality of help that she has become used to in England. In between the apartments of the two chars is the home of the Gusset family. Living with them is Henry Brown who is the offspring of a marriage between a British waitress and a member of the American armed forces. When the American went back home the wife refused to accompany him and the two divorced. Henry's mother soon met another man who didn't want to look after another man's child so Henry came to live with the Gussets. His mother was supposed to pay them for his keep but the payments stopped coming and she could not be found. So the Gussets felt they could treat Henry badly, hitting him and keeping him on short rations. Mrs. 'Arris decides to take him with her to America to find his father whom she is sure will be thrilled to have him. Many adventures ensue.I was completely charmed by the first book but I thought the New York one strained the bounds of credibility just a little too much. Nevertheless they were fun and a great antidote to the pandemic worries that abound.
    • 4/5
      I have only read Mrs Harris Goes to Paris so far, but it's a charming and lovely read. I recently saw the stage version of it and wanted to read the book that it was based on. Mrs Harris is a charwoman in London in the late 50s and sets her heart on a £450 Dior dress after seeing one in the wardrobe of one of the ladies she 'does' for. We follow her through her attempts to make enough money and then her trip to Paris. She meets some people along the way whose life she changes and who, in turn, change her life.It's a heartwarming and moving story and I don't think it's as dated as some books written at a similar time.
    • 4/5
      Technically, half of this book is a re-read; I read and reviewed Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris in 2008, so I was thrilled when I found out that it would be reprinted along with Mrs. Harris Goes to New York. They are two stories in and of themselves, but Mrs. Harris Goes to New York is best read alongside Mrs. Harris Goes to New York.I’ve noticed that the plots of the two stories in this book (more stories than novels, really) tend to conform to a certain formula: Mrs. Harris is a charming sixty-something-year-old woman who uses her forceful personality to charm and sometimes manipulate people and situations. Her adventures sometimes strain credulity, but I really enjoyed following her all over the world. Mrs. Harris is perhaps not very intelligent, but she’s very warm and I love that she’s able to manipulate people around her, oh-so-subtly. It’s always interesting to see how she’ll get out of her various predicaments—and you know she’ll always get out of them. A larger theme in both these novels is how does one deal with adversity, and overcome obstacles along the way?Gallico’s novels about Mrs. Harris are very funny in many places. Considering that Paul Gallico was a sports writer, it’s amazing how much he knew about and researched high fashion. I wish that Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris had been a longer novel, though…

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    Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York - Paul Gallico

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