My Fair Lady

by Monica Dickens

Dickens, Monica, My Fair Lady

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Plays

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

From the publisher: MONICA DICKENS, born in 1915, was brought up in London and was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Her mother's German origins and her Catholicism gave her the detached eye of an outsider; at St Paul's Girls' School she was under occupied and rebellious. After drama school she was a debutante before working as a cook. One Pair of Hands (1939), her first book, described life in the kitchens of Kensington. It was the first of a group of semi autobiographies of which Mariana (1940), technically a novel, was one. 'My aim is to entertain rather than instruct,' she wrote. 'I want readers to recognise life in my books.' In 1951 Monica Dickens married a US naval officer, Roy Stratton, moved to America and adopted two daughters. An extremely popular writer, she involved herself in, and wrote about, good causes such as the Samaritans. After her husband died she lived in a cottage in rural Berkshire, dying there in 1992.
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Reviews

[Stefan]

"And I never saw a more enchanting farce,
Than the moment when she shouted:"

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the story of the movie but with a little extra meat, it gives you a great insight to the time period and more of an insight into the characters. It's a really quick read, only took me a couple of hours so if your a fan of the movie then it's worth a read!

[Kelsie Wolters · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Fair Lady by Monica Dickens is a story about Eliza Doolittle, a young girl growing up in the 20th century. This story shows how one girl transformed from an uneducated girl working on the streets to a proper lady functioning in society. The author does a great job of describing the events and the themes of this book. This book teaches readers about the different classes in society and the way certain people were treated.
The author's purpose in writing this book is to show people the different classes in society and how one person can move from lower class to upper middle class. By using Eliza as the main character, readers are able to see the way she was before and after she was educated. With the help of Professor Higgins, Eliza was able to get off of the streets and be accepted in a real home. However, before being taught to speak properly, Eliza was not accepted by people in the middle or upper class, and after being taught by Higgins, she was no longer accepted by her friends in the lower class. Her own father did not want to take care of her anymore. The author is trying to show readers the different levels of society at this point in time and is trying to point out the flaws.
The theme of this book is being accepted. Throughout this whole book, Eliza is searching for a home or a place to belong. She wants security and stability, and a place where she is loved. While her mother was alive, she was Eliza's stability. After her mother died, her father treated her poorly, took money from her to pay rent, and sold her to Higgins for five pounds. When she goes to live in the Professor's house and begins lessons, she realizes that being accepted might be difficult. For example, Eliza says, "And what am I fit to do? I can't go back. I can't stay here. I don't belong anywhere, thanks to you." (page 130). At the end of the book, Eliza has to decide who she cares about and who loves her. She also has to decide where she thinks her stable home and place to belong is.
The style of this book is narrative. The author uses her words to tell the story of Eliza from when she was a child and her mother died to when she was an adult and she was looking for a home and a job. This style is effective because it causes readers to pay attention because of not knowing what happens next in the story. Also, the language is this book is funny and causes readers to pay attention to the words and think about them. This style portrays the story very well and makes it easier to understand.
I enjoyed this book very much. I thought the author did a nice job of making it interesting and funny, and I am now wanting to see the musical. Not only did I find myself eager to finish the book and find out what happens, but I wanted to know what happened after the book had already ended. I thought Eliza Doolittle was a very creative and lovable character, and I enjoyed learning about her and her relationships with people in the house and the choices she makes about those relationships.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The adaptation of the play based on Shaw's "Pygmalion". I have not seen the play so I honestly can not compare it to the play. I have seem and love the movie however as we know movies can be quite different than the original written piece of work. I can only look at it as a stand alone piece of work. It is cute and charming. A decent short read. However my heart will always lie with the movie.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the mid-twentieth century (and actually through today, although not as prevalent,) many film scripts were novelized and released as publicity for the films they featured. I never read these, thinking that they would be no different from the film scripts, and thus after seeing the film, there was no reason to read the novel based upon it. But I recently saw an article about several of these novelization of musical scripts. The books featured in the article were praised highly. And thus I set out to find these books, which are out of print and hard to get—except for the novelization of West Side Story, which has not been out of print in six decades. I was pleased to acquire a copy of Monica Dickens’s My Fair Lady, a book sanctioned by the authors of the musical play. The book is charming and a marvel. Unlike the musical play and subsequent film that focus almost equally on the characters of Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins, Dickens chose to make Eliza the principal character of her novel. Any actress contemplating portraying Eliza Doolittle would benefit greatly from reading Dickens’s novel. On stage, allowing for songs and a strict time frame, the characters are developed and yet not so. Dickens, however, gives Eliza a backstory. In Dickens’s imagination, we learn that Eliza had a mother who died, leaving her with her ne-er do well father. We see the almost squalor she lived in before showing up at the Higgins house. We see how Eliza, at first in her course of lessons, takes her meals and forms friendships with the servants. In fact, in the play, Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper, is a peripheral player; here, she is a full-bodied personality, as is the butler—who I don’t even remember from the play or film. Eliza also forms a true friendship with Higgins’s mother, something barely dealt with in the play, and the character of Freddie Eynsford Hill, simply a charming suitor in the play is here portrayed as an absolute twit. Furthermore, the play and film’s enigmatic ending is much clearer stated in this novel. In short, the book is a delight and stands alone. What makes it doubly delicious is that most readers will be familiar with the story already and will delight in seeing the differences between the novel and the play. It takes some searching, but there are copies out there. And the search is well worth it.

[Lkk1998 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monica Dickens turned a loved musical, into a charming, classic book! Her purpose was to put the prized storyline into literature that would appeal to the young and old. Dickens wrote a book that showed opportunity. Her intention was to prove that the unimaginable can happen, just as Elizabeth Doolittle, a poor girl, was turned into a respectable, young lady during the story.

Monica’s theme throughout the story is, “Do what makes you happy!” Eliza, the main character, begins working on the streets as a peddler, and it makes her happy enough. She lives simply. When suddenly she encounters a life of class, she realizes that being a lady is not so moralistic and far more complex than she had thought. She is not happy in this new life. Eliza needs to figure out what brings her true joy, because doing what you love is the only way to be happy.

My Fair Lady is written in narration. The story has a definite beginning, with much change in the middle, and a definite end. It involves several conflicts, this being a characteristic of narration. Eliza disagrees with Henry Higginson, her professor, because of their different personalities. Eliza and Henry Higginson are just examples of the many characters that made this a narrative, through their dialogue and well rounded beings.

I enjoyed this classic because it had a well developed plot, and truly gave life to characters. The story was appealing because it rode on “change”. It stuck with the idea that things do not always have to stay the way they are. I liked Eliza, the character, because she was stubborn and confident, and that is something I can relate to.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book quickly because it was a fun read. The writing style is emotional and compelling...but compelling toward what, is the question. Eliza has a lot of pride, which results in some bad things, such as disrespect toward parents/others, and I'm not sure if in the end she learned to be humble. Henry Higgins is a proud fellow, himself, but he does have some good points, and the ending had me nearly in tears, because I could feel Eliza's frustration and loneliness, and it wrapped up in a heart-warming (though somewhat ambiguous) way. There is some bad language in the story, but not nearly as much as I remember being in the movie, thankfully. An entertaining, well-written story by the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, but I wouldn't let young children read it.

[Eri Chitema · Rating 4 out of 5]

7-word-summary
: accent, professor, floweriest, love, betrayal, bet, lady

It took about 110 min. to read it.

If your partner betray you, how do you feel? Then, what would you do?
- I would be shocked by him, but I don't want to quarrel, so I wouldn't complain about him.

The heroine often speak English with her unique accent. This is one of her attractive feature. What's your attractive feature?
- My attractive feature is eyes because people say that my eyes are very big!

[Meaghan Steeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good quick read, but since I'm not sure how much of the back story that's in this that I didn't get from the movie "My Fair Lady" is actually a part of the original story.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Katelyn Panter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hate that it’s inferred she goes back to Higgins Glad she didn’t end up with Freddy, he was an airhead. I love Colonel Pick, Mrs Higgins, the servants, and Eliza. Love the musical but it’s really toxic 😄

[Marissa Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely short retelling

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una storia d'amore meravigliosa e romantica. L'ho amata molto.

[Saljo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming little book about rags to riches. But not one I will reread, nor do I need to own it.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of how an egotistical professor takes a young woman from the streets, improves her language, and what he does with her afterwards, which I don't completely understand. A great, short book.

[Anna Sprague]

My Fair Lady by Monica Dickens is a novel that focuses on the upbringing of a young lady, Elizabeth Doolittle. Monica Dickens’s purpose for writing this novel is to inform the reader that you do not have to be born into high society in order to be a young lady. Instead you can learn the attributes of a young lady by being taught. This novel tells the story of Elizabeth Doolittle being trained to become a young lady even though she was not born into high society.

There are many important themes that appear throughout My Fair Lady. One of those important themes is social class. A social class is defined as being a category for which citizens in a society are divided into. Throughout the novel of My Fair Lady, social class plays a magnificent role because it divides people into different classes and the ways of those specific classes. Through this novel, Elizabeth is being trained to become a young lady of the high class even though she was born in the lower class. Monica Dickens is trying to tell the reader that even though you may believe that you are not good enough to succeed or achieve in something, it is always possible and do not stop believing in yourself.

My Fair Lady was written in the style of narration. It was written in the style of narration because the story is being told through a series of events that is happening and is told in chronological order. I believe that this style of writing was effective for the writing of this novel because it makes the reader feel as though they are watching the scenes unfold right in front of them. For example, “It was breakfast time on the day after the races. Eliza was sitting at her usual place halfway down the long mahogany table, Higgins and Pickering, like an allergic married couple, sat at opposite ends, so that Uncle Nutters and Mary Jane walked half a mile each meal to serve them.” Through this quote, it makes the reader feel as though they are sitting at that very table watching all the characters do their everyday routine. So as you can see, this was a very effective way of writing because it became real to the reader.

I believe that My Fair Lady by Monica Dickens was a very entertaining book to read. It was not my favorite book but I enjoyed reading it. I liked this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering whether or not Elizabeth Doolittle could pull off becoming a young lady. One thing that I did not like about this book was the broken English that was spoken by Elizabeth Doolittle but I understand that it was part of her character. If I had to change one thing about this novel, I would explain more on Elizabeth’s childhood with her mother before she passed away. My Fair Lady by Monica Dickens is not similar to any other novel I have read.