Winifred Watson
Encyclopedia
Winifred Eileen Watson was an English writer. She is best known for her novel, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which was adapted into a major motion picture of the same name
.
. Although she was expected to attend university, as had her sisters, she was unable due to the impact of the Depression
on her father's shoe business. She began working as a typist to help support the family. Winifred once said: "The person I worked for never gave me any work until the afternoon -- he told me to bring some knitting in. So I wrote the whole book in the office."
Her first novel, Fell Top, was written in part as a result of a dare from her brother-in-law after she remarked that what she was reading was rubbish and could do better herself. After finishing Fell Top, she put the manuscript away and did not attempt to publish until years later when her sister saw an advertisement from a publisher. The publisher, Methuen, accepted Fell Top which was published in 1935, and asked if there were any more manuscripts. Reviewers were impressed with Fell Top and it was adapted into a BBC radio play. (Fell Top was the kind of rustic novel that Stella Gibbons
caricatured in her novel, Cold Comfort Farm
.) Her second novel, Odd Shoes was published in 1936.
With the exception of Miss Pettigrew, all of Watson's novels are set in the countryside. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, was Watson's third novel and was initially rejected. Watson had wanted to write a fun story after her work on two dramas. She and her publisher compromised and she agreed to write another drama set in the country similar to her previous work (Upyonder, published in 1938) if they would publish Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. As Ms. Watson predicted, Miss Pettigrew was an immediate success—in England, Australia and the United States. It was translated and published in France, and was about to be printed in Germany when World War II started. A musical film version was planned, starring Billie Burke
as Miss Pettigrew, but Pearl Harbor put paid to that. "I wish the Japanese had waited six months," Watson said 60 years later.
Watson married Leslie Pickering, manager of a local timber firm, in January 1936. They had one son, Keith, born in 1941, who survived the Blitz
by pure chance. Watson had put him upstairs but he was fussy so she brought him downstairs. A bomb destroyed the house next door and the fireplace was blown onto his cot. Being downstairs, he survived. After the bombing, she, her mother and the family next door moved in with Watson's in-laws. She stated it was these circumstances that made it impossible to write: "I just quit. It became impossible to write in a strange house with only one room for us all and my mother living with us, too. All my creative energy went into Keith." Other times, however, she said she had written all she wanted to write. She published her sixth and final novel, Leave and Bequeath, in 1943.
Persephone Books
published Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day first in 2001, then in 2003, 2004, and 2005, and finally as a Persephone Classic in 2008 with a preface by Henrietta Twycross-Martin. The film version of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was released in 2008 with Frances McDormand
in the lead role and Amy Adams
as Delysia LaFosse.
She died in Newcastle upon Tyne on August 5, 2002.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a 2008 British/American romantic comedy film directed by Bharat Nalluri. The screenplay by David Magee and Simon Beaufoy is based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Winifred Watson.-Plot:...
.
Biography
Winifred Watson was born at Whitley Bay near Newcastle and educated at St Ronan's, a boarding school at Berwick-upon-Tweed. She lived most of her life in Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. Although she was expected to attend university, as had her sisters, she was unable due to the impact of the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
on her father's shoe business. She began working as a typist to help support the family. Winifred once said: "The person I worked for never gave me any work until the afternoon -- he told me to bring some knitting in. So I wrote the whole book in the office."
Her first novel, Fell Top, was written in part as a result of a dare from her brother-in-law after she remarked that what she was reading was rubbish and could do better herself. After finishing Fell Top, she put the manuscript away and did not attempt to publish until years later when her sister saw an advertisement from a publisher. The publisher, Methuen, accepted Fell Top which was published in 1935, and asked if there were any more manuscripts. Reviewers were impressed with Fell Top and it was adapted into a BBC radio play. (Fell Top was the kind of rustic novel that Stella Gibbons
Stella Gibbons
Stella Dorothea Gibbons was an English novelist, journalist, poet, and short-story writer.Her first novel, Cold Comfort Farm, won the Femina Vie Heureuse Prize for 1933...
caricatured in her novel, Cold Comfort Farm
Cold Comfort Farm
Cold Comfort Farm is a comic novel by Stella Gibbons, published in 1932. It parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time, by writers such as Mary Webb...
.) Her second novel, Odd Shoes was published in 1936.
With the exception of Miss Pettigrew, all of Watson's novels are set in the countryside. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, was Watson's third novel and was initially rejected. Watson had wanted to write a fun story after her work on two dramas. She and her publisher compromised and she agreed to write another drama set in the country similar to her previous work (Upyonder, published in 1938) if they would publish Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. As Ms. Watson predicted, Miss Pettigrew was an immediate success—in England, Australia and the United States. It was translated and published in France, and was about to be printed in Germany when World War II started. A musical film version was planned, starring Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
as Miss Pettigrew, but Pearl Harbor put paid to that. "I wish the Japanese had waited six months," Watson said 60 years later.
Watson married Leslie Pickering, manager of a local timber firm, in January 1936. They had one son, Keith, born in 1941, who survived the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
by pure chance. Watson had put him upstairs but he was fussy so she brought him downstairs. A bomb destroyed the house next door and the fireplace was blown onto his cot. Being downstairs, he survived. After the bombing, she, her mother and the family next door moved in with Watson's in-laws. She stated it was these circumstances that made it impossible to write: "I just quit. It became impossible to write in a strange house with only one room for us all and my mother living with us, too. All my creative energy went into Keith." Other times, however, she said she had written all she wanted to write. She published her sixth and final novel, Leave and Bequeath, in 1943.
Persephone Books
Persephone Books
Persephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
published Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day first in 2001, then in 2003, 2004, and 2005, and finally as a Persephone Classic in 2008 with a preface by Henrietta Twycross-Martin. The film version of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was released in 2008 with Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
in the lead role and Amy Adams
Amy Adams
Amy Lou Adams is an American actress and singer. Adams began her performing career on stage in dinner theaters before making her screen debut in the 1999 black comedy film Drop Dead Gorgeous...
as Delysia LaFosse.
She died in Newcastle upon Tyne on August 5, 2002.
External links
- Obituary
- http://www.filminfocus.com/film/miss_pettigrew_lives_for_a_day/castncrew?member=winifred_watson
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970468/ Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day