Diorissimo

     What a lovely little book this is! Paul Gallico's Flowers for Mrs. Harris is the delightful tale of a London charlady's yearning for a Dior dress, how she sets about getting one and what happens to her and to those she meets along the way, all of whom benefit from their encounter with this unlikely fairy godmother.

     My Penguin copy says: "Paul Gallico possesses a unique talent for presenting fairy tales in modern dress. A reader must have grown old and crusty if he has closed his mind to so much charm", and as one whose mind is very much open to such things and who retains the capacity to be entranced and uplifted by books, I can thoroughly recommend it.

    We meet Mrs. Ada Harris on a flight to Paris - a day trip with the sole purpose of buying a dress from the House of Dior. How she has the means to fund this extravagant purchase I shan't reveal, nor shall I say what happens to her when she reaches her destination, but here's a snippet from the couturier's grey-carpeted interior:

"She found herself in a curtained-off cubicle.....Each cubicle held a woman like a queen bee in a cell, and through the corridors rushed the worker bees with the honey - armfuls of frilly, frothy garments in colours of plum, raspberry, tamarind, and peach, gentian-flower, cowslip, damask rose and orchid.....Here was indeed woman's secret world ... the battlefield where the struggle against the ravages of age was carried on with the weapons of the dressmaker's art and where fortunes were spent in a single afternoon".

    From one charming book to others, I hope: can anyone recommend other "fairy tales in modern dress", or books which just make you feel better for reading them? And thanks again to Justine for writing about Mrs. Harris the other day - I hadn't heard of it before I read her post.

Comments

[Peter the Flautist]

In a similar vein "Jennie" by Paul Gallico. In an entirely different vein "Nice Work" by David Lodge.

[Donna]

Hi Karen: This is one of my favourite books. Over here it goes by the title "Mrs. 'Arris Goes To Paris". But whatever the title, it is a lovely little tale.

[Elaine]

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day must come into this category, surely? it is a real Cinderella story as is Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Reading these always leaves me with a warm glow. I am now going to get hold of this book, it sounds delightful

[lindsay]

Old and crusty? What can they be thinking of?

[Anne]

I have recently discovered Persephone Books and would heartily recommend Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson and The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The latter features a most marvellous heroine and raises many interesting issues. A good read for a book group. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a classic Cinderella story and has recently been made into a film. It is being shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival this June and I will definately book a ticket! I found both books very satisfying reads offering quality writing, good observation and characterisation and altogether very charming. I was particularly bereft when I finished The Shuttle.

[Rhys]

I am having tea on my own(such is life when the children have all gone away)and I am reading an obituary of a lady called Nuala O'Faolain and she sounds interesting and has written commentaries (I think based on her own experiences )and novels. But I am going to contradict myself and say I'm a bit fed up with autobiography (even when it seems to be fiction).... but she does sound (if you don't mind me saying) as though she could make a remark which might get you thinking. How many times did I contradict myself there !

[Angela Young]

Also ... Eucalyptus by Murray Bail and anything by Jane Austen ... they're all reworkings of the ancient tales (I think), most especially Mansfield Park.

[Carole]

Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Miss Pettigrew next, I think.