Helpful Score: 11
It takes great writing to get me, a 36 year old peace loving, American mother of two, to feel completely connected and sympathetic towards a 60 something retired military British man in a small village. This book has that writing! I loved that we were given the Major's unspoken thoughts along with what was allowed past the filter of his stiff upper lip. I expected a charming story and was rewarded with that as well as a healthy dose of truth and inspiration.
Helpful Score: 9
This is such a well-written and enjoyable book. With dry and witty humor, it gives us a very true-to-life view of prim and proper British society. And on top of that, it's simply a great story. I loved it!
Helpful Score: 6
This was a sweet book. I found it spoke to the small mindeness of the "posh" communities and the rational thinking of only one or two people in this town. What a village this must be.
Helpful Score: 6
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand reminded me a bit of the British comedies on PBS and a bit of the Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross, but with a fantastically sarcastic British "curmudgeon" in place of the often clueless Southern church lady. I know that the Miss Julia books are a bit of a guilty pleasure, and I mean no disrespect in this comparison. Both have colorful settings and casts of characters that sucked me in and slightly preposterous plots that snowball to fantastic conclusions.
Major Pettigrew is living a quiet retirement in the English countryside until his developing relationship with a local Pakistani widow, the town busybodies planning the local golf club's annual to-do, his only son's ruthless drive to succeed, and a dispute with his recently deceased brother's widow over a family heirloom, all converge to make his life more complicated.
Helen Simonson has written a terrific first novel and I look forward to seeing what she writes next, whether it features Major Pettigrew or not.
Major Pettigrew is living a quiet retirement in the English countryside until his developing relationship with a local Pakistani widow, the town busybodies planning the local golf club's annual to-do, his only son's ruthless drive to succeed, and a dispute with his recently deceased brother's widow over a family heirloom, all converge to make his life more complicated.
Helen Simonson has written a terrific first novel and I look forward to seeing what she writes next, whether it features Major Pettigrew or not.
Helpful Score: 5
This is a very humorous book about a romance between an elderly retired Army British colonel and a widowed Pakistani shopkeeper. Well written and good humor.
