The classic satirical novel

'Mrs Harris is one of the great creations of fiction - so real that you feel you know her, yet truly magical as well. I can never have enough of her' Justine Picardie

'It is almost impossible not to succumb to Gallico's spell' Times Literary Supplement

Responsible for cleaning the homes of the rich, Mrs Harris is a humble charlady with a knack for putting things in order wherever she goes. When, much to her surprise, she wins a trip for two beyond the Iron Curtain, she has no idea of the adventure that lies ahead of her.

Ever the loyal servant, however, Mrs Harris (accompanied by her loyal friend Mrs Butterfield) believes it only right that others benefit from her good fortune as well. With a mink coat in mind for Mrs Butterfield, she also hopes to use their 'oliday to reignite a lost romance between her lovelorn employer and a Russian woman he had loved years ago. Unfortunately, the discreet passing of documents is an activity which can land even the most well-intentioned charlady in hot water with the KGB...

Paul Gallico was born in New York City, of Italian and Austrian parentage, in 1897, and attended Columbia University. From 1922 to 1936 he worked on the New York Daily News as sports editor, columnist, and assistant managing editor. In 1936 he bought a house on top of a hill at Salcombe in South Devon and settled down with a Great Dane and twenty-three assorted cats. It was in 1941 that he made his name with The Snow Goose, a classic story of Dunkirk which became a world-wide best-seller. Having served as a gunner's mate in the U.S. Navy in 1918, he was again active as a war correspondent with the American Expeditionary Force in 1944. Paul Gallico, who later lived in Monaco, was a first-class fencer and a keen sea-fisherman. He wrote over forty books, four of which were the adventures of Mrs Harris: Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (1958), Mrs Harris Goes to New York (1959), Mrs. Harris, M.P. (1965) and Mrs Harris Goes to Moscow (1974). One of the most prolific and professional of American authors, Paul Gallico died in July 1976.