Winifred Watsonīs daffy characters are inclined to cheerful antisemitism, at a time when Nazism was taking over Europe. Can we still enjoy it? In last weekīs article on Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, I started with a silly but sweet bit of innuendo. It seemed a good way to introduce a book that is, for most of its 233 pages, a light, frothy delight and widely loved as a feelgood read, so much so that it was chosen as our `fun` book for September.I understand readersī affection; for the most part, I share it. But thereīs no getting around the feel-bad aspects of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, specifically - as a few of you have pointed out - some distinctly racist passages.`Well tell her not to be a damned fool and that Iīm the man for her and not that black-haired, oily, knife-throwing dago. Donīt think Iīm blind.``Heīs not a dago,` said Miss LaFosse furiously.She stared at him. He was dapper, neat, brisk, with brilliant, liquid brown eyes and dark hair. He had a jutting nose, a full-lipped mouth and a look about him that said he was not a man to play tricks with, yet a hint he could be pleasant enough if folks were pleasant with him.`And yes,` thought Miss Pettigrew; `somewhere in his ancestry there has been a Jew.``I wouldnīt advise marrying him,` she tells her friend Miss LaFosse. `I donīt like to jump to conclusions but I think there was a little Jew in him. He wasnīt quite English. And, well, I do think when it comes to marriage itīs safer to stick to your own nationality.` Related: Enid Blyton had racist views. But I still read her | Sian Cain Related: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: has naughtiness ever been so nice? Continue reading...
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