Mrs. 'Arris goes to Parliament

Mrs. 'Arris #3

by Paul Gallico, Gioia Fiammenghi (Illustrator)

Mrs Harris is a salt-of-the-earth charlady, content with her lot, cleaning the homes of the rich. However, her knack of setting things straight often has the tendency to stray beyond keeping things neat and tidy... In Mrs Harris MP, the honest as-ever old char impresses her employer with her no-nonsense political views to such an extent that he - an MP, no less - encourages her to become a voice for the people of Battersea and stand for election herself. The world of local politics, however, soon proves a test for a lady as straight-laced as Mrs Harris; political skulduggery, the glare of the media and the apparent betrayal of a trusted friend all becoming issues she just hadn't bargained on...

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Humor, British Literature, Politics, Classics

152 pages, Hardcover

First published June 18, 1965

About the author

Paul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.

He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.

During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.

He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.

Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.

He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.

He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.

Reviews

[Klare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great adventure for Mrs Harris.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mrs. 'Arris, the Cockney charwoman, unadvisedly makes her opinions known about politics to one of the upper class men (Sir Wilmot Corrison) that she cleans house for. She even tells him that her motto is/would be "Live and Let Live." She explains, simply, that everyone should have a better life. (This was written in 1965, the year of my birth.) Her motto cracks me up because it so British, think "Live and Let Die." Corrison decides that 'Arris should run for Parliament. However, he has a scheme for her to campaign but lose. Corrison's Rolls Royce chauffeur John Bayswater, who we met in "Mrs. 'Arris goes to New York" overhears the plot and rallies votes for Mrs. 'Arris along with a TV appearance and an editorial in a French paper. All of these actions give momentum to her campaign. She is getting even more attention than the Beatles as the book says! Eventually, she wins the seat in Parliament but is ill-equipped for the job. She finds her way out of the situation and the book ends with Bayswater whisking her away for a mental and emotional break.
I was intrigued by this description of campaigning that could match up with today:
"Offices, staff, pretty girls, flowers, lapel buttons and badges, mimeograph machines, campaign literature, printing, stationery and stamps, travel and transportation, entertainment, persuasion, clambakes, barbecues, corn roasts, souvenirs, bands, banners, liquor, cigars, drum-majorettes, hiring halls, radio and television time, photographers, newspaper and magazine advertising, fireworks, speech writers, loudspeaker wagons, telephones, tips, balloons, transparencies, billboards, not to mention what you've got to pay for votes these days..." This definition was from an American character named Mr. Schreiber who was telling Bayswater about the extent of a run up to an election. (In each successive book, Mrs. 'Arris is becoming a little less charming? A little less self-assured? I cannot put my finger on it, but "Mrs. 'Arris goes to Paris' is still my favorite.)

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a little unknown help from her friends Ada Harris ends up elected into the British Parliament. As always Mrs. Harris' world is one that makes the reader happy. Unfortunately, this one is a bit darker than usual as politics are involved.

How did this book find me? I loved the movie Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris and have been reading the series.

[Lucía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a lovely, comforting and sweet book

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted a bit more light-heartedness out of this, and I didn't get it. Poor Mrs. Harris gets hustled through the political system to her eventual chagrin. At first, I thought it might be a variation on "The Mouse That Roared" kind of plot--you know, the underdog turns out to be a world conqueror--but nope. The satire in it is fine, I suppose, but the fact that Mrs. Harris DOESN'T have even fleeting success in her endeavors feels too unfair. Of course, it's reality. But in the previous books, Mrs. Harris's adventures have ended on more positive notes. So that's what I expected.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was able to listen to the 3rd Mrs. Harris adventure on Audible. Excellent narrator.
I enjoyed this story as well, although not as much as the first one. Mrs. Harris is still very loveable, along with her friends.

[Kathleen Nalley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this character.

[Shân Petry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned. I couldn't stand her political rants in the beginning. She seemed to have had a personality transplant.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mrs. Harris is such a little scamp, she stresses me out

[Emily Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect reading for the current political climate. I wish all politicians were as honest as Mrs. Harris is. Though, I don't agree with all of her opinions...

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute lighthearted fun read.

Appropriate for my teenager? Yes. Absolutely.

[Marilyn Mansfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the process of reading all the Mrs. 'arris books by Paul Gallico. This one surprised me as it was darker than most of this series. Mrs 'arris is a London char who gets herself involved in all sorts of interesting situations. In this book she gets into politics. She is put up as a candidate for House of Commons (unbeknownst to her only as a spoiler in some political back room deals). When she gets elected she finds herself, for once, in over her head.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is one of those that I'll wish I could experience for the first time again one day. Absolutely love it and Juliet Stevenson's narration.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have the third of four books about Ada Harris.

She's yet a woman with determination and spunk, a big heart, and a sometimes brash way of speaking her mind. It's plenty interesting how each of her adventures has been so different, but they each fit her in a convincing way. It isn't as if she suddenly takes off in a rocket ship for no reason or anything, and it's been fun seeing some supporting characters return for significant purposes.

Especially given how this adventure turns out for Mrs. Harris, I suppose I'd call this a gentle political satire? In any case, I found this quick and quirky read to be entertaining, Mrs. Harris has a new thing or two to learn (as always), and I was pleasantly surprised and intrigued by the ending.

I definitely plan on reading the next and last book.

[Leticia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follows a similar pattern of qualified success for Mrs Harris in a surprising endeavour—in this case, standing for Parliament—but a little sadder than previous instalments because she is being used, rather than having her own madcap adventure.

It doesn't help that I found Mrs Harris' actual political views a little objectionable. They were arguably realistic to her character and period, but I didn't like hearing it. And as with all the books in this series, I'm torn between appreciating the small percentage of realism that the books bring when everything doesn't work out completely perfectly, and feeling irritated that the narrative does always put Mrs Harris back in her box eventually. Yes, she's irrepressible and brilliant, but also Mrs Butterworth is usually right eventually when she says Mrs Harris shouldn't rise above her station.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually absolutely adore Mrs.’ Arris books. I did like this one, but not as much as the others. Too many folks essentially run off and leave Ava adrift, stranded in an alien setting—-including several friends.
One of Ada’s clients is in Parliament and gets hit by a virus. Ada has just watched a show about British politics, and is incensed by the jerks in government. So, after tending to the ailing client, she rants about those idiots in Parliament. Her client
decided to have her run for a seat—-but he does NOT want her to win. He wants her to steal votes from another party to get HIS candidate in. Unfortunately, Ada’s friends step in to support her, and it goes to H*** in a hand basket rather quickly.
Still entertaining, but not as upbeat as the other novels.

[Stacia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite. Mrs. ‘arris is a novelty candidate that ends up winning the election! Unlike real life, she finds that she is not qualified and leaves Parliament within a month.

Maybe it’s because of our current political turmoil, or maybe because I never wanted Mrs. ‘arris to refer to anyone as a slut, but this book just wasn’t as charming as the first two. It’s possible that Paul Gallico should have left Mrs. ‘arris in Paris.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful story by Paul Gallico, the 3rd volume in his trilogy about the life and adventures of the wise and intrepid everywomsn, the char woman, Mrs. Ada Harris! His stories of her began with the ebullient adventure, "Mrs. 'Arris Goes To Paris", followed by "Mrs. Harris Goes to New York" (which I am currently in the midst of reading), and concludes with this 3rd adventure that propelled the most unlikely of candidates into a seat as a member of Parliament.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continued to enjoy the series (looks like there are two or three that Scribd doesn't have, but the audio editions may not have been published yet). Surprised to learn the author was American, not British, which makes it all the more annoying that the publisher feels the need to dumb things down for Americans — Harris rather than 'Arris, aitch rather than haitch, "Goes to Parliament" rather than "MP," etc.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mrs Harris MP has a more sombre tone than the previous two books in the quartet, and I did not like it as much as the first two books. However, at this horrible time when the misogynistic, incompetent, deceitful Boris Johnson somehow managed to win a majority, the idea of an MP acting honourably like Mrs Harris brought a smile to my face.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly not as enjoyable as the first story. There was so much potential and I really wanted to see Mrs. 'Arris make it, but it was quite sad and maybe too realistic. Not the escapist pleasure of the first book for sure. I am still waiting on book two from the library so I am starting to wonder if the first book in the series is just the golden egg and the goose didn't make it for the rest.

[Lottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bonefide easy going read /listen.
Nothing to serious
Good characters (particularly well narrated in the audio book).
I haven’t read any of the other Mrs Harris books and read well as a standalone other than a very few references to past events, but it wasn’t too confusing to not have the context.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️

There’s just something about Ada Harris that you can’t quite help yourself routing for her. This is the third in the series and it was just another lovely read where the stakes aren’t that high but you come away from reading it highly satisfied with a smile on your face. If you’ve not read any of the Mrs Harris I cannot recommend them enough.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the excellent narrator on this audio the storyline in Mrs. Harris is not about the woman I came to enjoy and appreciate in other books in the series: any intended satire just fell flat for me, and the marital advice Gallico gifts Ada to hand out to women whose husband is having an affair has not aged well at all.

Time to do a palate cleanse and go through The Snow Goose.......

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as charming as the first two books in the series, and I was frustrated by Ada's naïveté and some of her views (e.g., that Mods, Rockers, and Beatniks are all good-for-nothings), though I'm guessing these views would have been typical of a woman of her age at the time.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris and New York, I needed to know what Mrs. Harris was doing in Parliament. She has grand plans to change the country and instead finds herself lost. Such a good book.

[Kristyn Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore the Mrs. Harris books! This one is just as charming as the others! The cast of characters is absolutely endearing. They are a delightful glimpse into their place and time, and people who try to do the right thing by one another.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5 stars: I adore these books even if they were written a quite a while ago. They are short keep you on your toes and Mrs Harris even though her schemes may come out a bit haywire her heart is always in the right place. That is what should always matter most.

[Nicole Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cute Mrs. Harris pick-me-up! While not nearly as charming as the original adventure, I still appreciated the shenanigans of this indomitable English char woman!

Content: occasional blasphemy, occasional biblical swear (maybe twice)

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun