Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico
I feel upset when I see books rated low because they are 'unrealistic'. It's fiction, of course it's unrealistic! But is it convincingly so?
This one is.
The very premise of this book takes it into the 'That Would Never Happen' territory. And yet I found that I was happily able to suspend my disbelief and follow the protagonist along on her Parisian adventure of glamour and friendship. If you are always chasing magic in your everyday life, you'll enjoy this one.
Most people will also be able to relate to the thread of realism that runs through the story. That of madly, desperately wanting something that you know you may never ever get.
The blurb: Mrs Harris is a London charwoman who makes her living by cleaning houses for the rich and the famous. She leads a very quiet but contented life. Until one day when she is tidying up her client's wardrobe and sees these heart-stoppingly gorgeous Dior gowns.
That moment onwards, Mrs. Harris has only one mission in life – to save up enough to travel to Paris and buy herself a Dior dress. She knows it's outrageously expensive and wildly impractical but she just wants it. This is the story of how she goes about making that happen and the people she meets along the way.
I'm going for the movie tomorrow. So excited!!!!
1