*Includes Spoilers*
When I looked for reviews of this book, I saw references to Richmal Crompton, the author, trying to reformulate William for other audiences. People have this idea that another Crompton creation, Jimmy, is a younger William, which I have refuted previously and will again in future posts! It also appears that some feel that Patricia was an attempt at a female version for girls.
It makes me wonder if those people have actually read the book.
Enter Patricia is told entirely from a man's perspective. Patricia is the object of his affection and features heavily in the skits that make up this hilarious book. However, there are skits that don't include Patricia, or mention Patricia without her making an appearance.
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| Cover via Goodreads. |
We see Mr Lawson meeting Patricia due to a misunderstanding. He has been asked by a friend to look after the best looking woman at a party, to keep her away from other men, until he arrives. Mr Lawson sees Patricia and assumes that this is that woman. Eventually his friend arrives, admonishing him as the girl in question is now unavailable!
A series of funny skits ensue as Mr Lawson first tries to woo Patricia, then afterwards, moments of fun as their life together grows.
One skit involves Patricia forgetting her umbrella, leaving it at a department store. Lawson goes to retrieve the umbrella, which involves various stops in the department store as it has been passed on and moved to a safe place. Eventually, upon finding the umbrella in the managers office. After a long conversation with the manager, *** rushes downstairs to bring the umbrella back to Patricia, only to realise that he, himself, has now forgotten the umbrella! There is a bit of an umbrella theme throughout the book.
As their life grows together, we see a genuine fondness between them. The hilarity calms down and Patricia's nephew and nieces come to visit. I found that this put a dampener on the book, however, by the end, we realise that Crompton was softly preparing us for the couple's future life.
I hope that you can see that this book is about two adults, falling in love - and having a great time in the process. The book is nothing like William - why would it be? The dust cover illustration, with its bold colours, may be reminiscent of the William covers, but this is wholly misleading. The book illustrations are much better and properly reflect the characters and situations.
I have also seen mentions that it wasn't successful and this is why no other books on Patricia were written. If you read to the end, you'll see that the story is complete - there was never any need for another book. While the story in this book is woven together via a series of skits, it is a full story with a full story arc.
It is the most hilarious and fun book that I've read in a good while and I'd thoroughly recommend it.
