Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand has been on a number of lists for Best Books of 2010 that have recently been circulating. It certainly deserves to be on those lists in my humble opinion. What a joy to read Helen Simonson’s first novel in the first week of 2011.
Although Ms. Simonson was born in England she has lived in the US for the past two decades. Her family lives in a part of England that is famous for literary celebrities including Kipling, Virginia Woolf and Henry James. Helen says on her website that this heritage has been a great inspiration to her.
Her novel is set in a small village in England, Edgecombe St. Mary, the protagonist being a retired and widowed military man living in quaint Rose Lodge and tending his gardens and growing a type of clematis vine that the neighbors consider worth stealing. We depart from the typical British cozy when the Major begins falling in love with the Pakistani shop keeper, Mrs. Ali. We want the couple to find romance but can their love overcome cultural barriers particularly felt when the other villagers ostracize Ms. Ali.
Humor is liberally sprinkled throughout the story and is particularly funny concerning the parent/child relationship between the Major and his greedy London based son, Roger.
“You sound as if you’re calling from a submarine, Roger,” he said chuckling. “I expect the squirrels have been chewing on the lines again.”
“Actually, it may also be that I have you on speaker,” said Roger. “My chiropractor doesn’t want me holding the phone under my chin anymore, but my barber says a headset encourages oily buildup and miniaturization of my follicles.”
The book has a bit of screwball comedy but it is offset by the wonderful story line and characters. This is truly a winning book deserving of much praise and positions on many of the ‘best of the best’ lists.