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. When your choice of fiction is influenced by where it is set, then you can end up reading novels that you would not otherwise have given a second glance to.

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. Arris Goes to Paris, I was throughly charmed as she was a multi-dimensional character in a delightful book enriched with wonderful drawings.

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. For all its farce-like feel, Mrs Harris Goes To Moscow does reveal the dominant themes and experiences that a Western visitor to Moscow in the 1970s might note. I haven't read the two installments that follow, but from what I gather they were also very good, most likely stronger than this one. Gallico's plot feels contrived, and the caricatures of the Soviet and British diplomats who intercede fall somewhat flat. See the Golden Carriage in the Kremlin, the mummy of the great god Lenin and the relics of the Czar.

Unfortunately, the discreet passing of documents is an activity which can land even the most well-intentioned charlady in hot water with the KGB. If you want something comfortable, easy-to-read, and faintly ridiculous, then it is fine — it’s a cold Sunday afternoon, put the heating on, make a cup of tea, may be a slice of Dundee cake, and curl up on the sofa with Mrs Harris Goes To Moscow.Something definitely happened with this last book in the series: just looking at cover art leads me to believe there was a switch in publishers, their illustrator was lost, or there was a drastic shift in marketing strategy (perhaps all? By a series of miscommunications, mistaken identities, and misunderstandings of what ‘char lady’ could possibly mean, Mrs Harris and her friend Violet Butterfield (the wonderful Vi, who wants none of the adventures that Mrs H seems to thrive on) are believed to be spies by the KGB and believed to be aristocracy by others high up in Russia. Lockwood about it, he asks her to bring a love letter to Liz, his Russian girlfriend, a tour guide for Intourist, the Russian travel service. Mrs Harris Goes To Moscow is the fourth and final in Gallico’s occasional series of books about the adventures of Mrs Ada Harris, a widowed London char woman. Butterfield has serious reservations about the trip and once she finds out about the letter her anxiety grows.