What's the Difference between Ladies in Lavender the Book and Ladies in Lavender the Movie?
| In the Book |
In the Movie |
Ursula Widdington
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Ursula Widdington
Portrayed by: Judi Dench
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Janet Widdington
|
Janet Widdington
Portrayed by: Maggie Smith
|
Andrea Marowski
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Andrea Marowski
Portrayed by: Daniel Brühl
|
Olga Danilof
|
Olga Danilof
Portrayed by: Natascha McElhone
|
Dorcas
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Dorcas
Portrayed by: Miriam Margolyes
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The Doctor
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Dr. Mead
Portrayed by: David Warner
|
Jan Pendered
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Jan Pendered
Portrayed by: Freddie Jones
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Adam Penruddocke
|
Adam Penruddocke
Portrayed by: Clive Russell
|
Ladies in Lavender Book vs Movie
| In the Book |
In the Movie |
|
The book is set in 1916. |
The film is set in 1936. |
|
Ursula and Janet are in their mid-forties. Andrea is twenty. |
Judy Dench and Maggie Smith were 68 when the film was made. Andrea's age is not mentioned, but he is youthful and handsome.
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Ursula and Janet Widdington never married and always lived in their father's house |
Ursula is a spinster, Janet is a widow. Janet was a nurse during World War I. |
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The sisters give Andrea clothes to wear that belonged to their father. |
The sisters buy Andrea a new suit to wear.
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This does not happen in the book. |
Dr. Mead is infatuated with Olga. But she rejects his offers to dance at a party and when he visits her near the coast while painting, she does not welcome him. Dr. Mead is jealous of the much younger Andrea. |
|
This does not happen in the book. |
While at a party, Andrea plays the violin for the guests which pleases them greatly. Andrea catches the eye of a few girls, this displeases at least one of the men present who tells Andrea he wants him to keep his foreign eyes off of her. Another party guest defends Andrea and tells off the jealous man.
|
|
This does not happen in the book. |
A jealous Doctor Mead asks the local police to look into Andrea as he is a foreigner. The policeman talks to the sisters who defend his character. |
|
This does not happen in the book. |
Andrea asks one of the fisherman if he can sail him to American. The fisherman says "don't be daft".
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No letter is sent in the book. |
Olga sends a letter to the sister's house for Andrea; it is an invitation to meet her brother who is a famous violinist. Janet burns the letter as the sisters do not want Andrea to leave. Andrea learns about the letter later on and is angry. He apologizes to the sisters for being angry as he understands that they enjoy his company very much. |
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Olga asks Andrea to come with her immediately to London to see her violinist brother. He intended to send a telegram, but as they approached London he thought less about it as he was youthful and distracted by what was to come. No telegram was sent. |
Olga brings Andrea to London on very short notice. The sisters worry, but later they get a package from Andrea. It contains a the painting that Olga made for him as well as a request to listen to him play the violin with an orchestra that will be broadcast on the radio soon.
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The sister eventually receive word that Andrea had gone to London with the much younger Olga. Janet says they were fools. Ursula hopes that she will get a letter someday. She had always hoped for a fairy tale prince to come from the sea. She knew the wonderful time she had with Andrea had to end. Ursula will now comfort her older sister in the future. |
The people of the village gather to listen to Andrea play over the radio. Janet and Ursula take a train to London to watch Andrea's performance. Andrea very happily greets them and gives them each a kiss. After Andrea is whisked away by another woman to greet other attendees, Janet and Ursula leave. |