STOP PRESS!
I've just read that there is a film adaptation of "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day" (Written by Winifred Watson and published by Persephone) in the pipeline for 2008. This is a good and a bad thing.
It's a good thing as it will generate publicity for Persephone, thereby boosting their sales, raising more awareness of them and helping them to exist and publish even more marvellous books.
But it's a bad thing as the book will doubtles be bastardised by the Americans. I hear that Frances McDormand is in line for the title role. Now, I'm a fan of Frances McDormand - she's a grand actress. But she's also an American actress. And Miss Pettigrew is a 100% English gentlewoman. Sure, McDormand is more of a global cinematic draw than an English actress (and let's face it, Helen Mirren can't be in everything, neither can Judi Dench), but I'm sick of Americans portraying English legends (Zellweger as Beatrix Potter and Bridget Jones; Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen; to name but two).
It's always iffy when one of your favourite books is mauled by Hollywood... but let's wait and see what happens. Oscar-nominated Brit Simon Beaufoy ("The Full Monty") and Oscar-nomiated American David Magee ("Finding Neverland") have done the script, and British TV director Bharat Nalluri ("Life On Mars", "Hustle", "Spoooks" etcl) is directing, when shooting starts in April.
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