Mrs. Harris is a salt-of-the-earth charlady, content with her lot, cleaning the homes of the rich. However, her knack of setting things straight often has the tendency to stray beyond keeping things neat and tidy . . . In Mrs. Harris Goes to Parliament , 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. The world of local politics, however, soon proves a test for a lady as straight-laced as Mrs. Harris; political skullduggery, the glare of the media, and the apparent betrayal of a trusted friend all becoming issues she just hadn't bargained on . . . 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 bestseller. Having served as a gunner's mate in the US 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, Mrs. Harris Goes to New York, Mrs. Harris, M.P., and Mrs. Harris Goes to Moscow. One of the most prolific and professional of American authors, Paul Gallico died in July 1976. He was married four times and had several children. Juliet Stevenson is a narrator who is recipient of the AudioFile Golden Voice Award. She has won the prestigious Audie Award and numerous Earphones Awards for her narrations. She is a British actress on stage and screen and notably a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also appeared in popular films such as Bend It Like Beckham and Mona Lisa Smile . She was honored as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. She received further recognition when she was nominated for several BAFTA Awards, and she earned an Olivier Award for her role in Death and the Maiden .