"Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" by Paul Gallico

I was looking for something short and light to read, and thought of a book that's been on my list for a while -- "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris," a 1958 novel by Paul Gallico.  The cover of my digital version (pictured here) is a tie-in to the  2022 movie starring the wonderful Lesley Manville, and while I haven't seen the movie (and have a hard time picturing her as a charwoman...!), she's an amazing actress and I have no doubt she pulled it off!  

Mrs. Ada Harris (or 'Arris, as she says in her Cockney accent) is a childless widow who now supports herself as a charwoman/cleaning lady in London with a large number of daily/regular clients, many of them wealthy and titled. She's content with her life and takes pleasure in flowers, particularly the geraniums she grows in and outside her flat -- until the day she spots a Dior couture dress hanging in the closet of one of her clients. It's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen -- and she wants one for herself, more than anything she's ever wanted before in her life. For three years, she scrimps and saves (and makes the occasional bet, lol -- sometimes winning, sometimes losing) until she finally has just enough to finance a one-day round-trip airplane ticket to Paris --  and a precious Dior dress to bring home with her.  

What happens next is the stuff of fairy tales, as the people she encounters change her life -- and she changes theirs too. The cheerful, plain-spoken Mrs. Harris enchants the staff of Dior (including Christian Dior himself!) -- and she won me over too. The book is just a wee bit dated in its language and attitudes, and I had a couple of questions (She didn't bring any luggage!  Did she have any trouble changing her return ticket? -- we do not know...) -- but I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet and utterly charming book. (Who among us hasn't fallen utterly in love with a pretty dress or some other object that we simply HAD to have?? impractical though it might have been?)   

4 stars on Goodreads & StoryGraph.  

My copy actually includes a sequel -- "Mrs. Harris Goes to New York" -- and there are two more:  "Mrs. Harris Goes to Parliament" and "Mrs. Harris Goes to Moscow"(!).    I hope to get around to those,  eventually...! 

This was Book #20 read to date in 2026 (and Book #2 finished in August), bringing me to 50% of  my 2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 40 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 3 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :(  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2026 tagged as "2026 books."