Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

When I began reading this book, my expectation was this would be a comic tale peopled by stock characters. The situation was interesting, so I settled in to enjoy it. This enjoyment was heightened by the prose: fresh without being pretentiously ornamented. Here’s an example: “She cast her eyes down at the carpet, as if looking for a thread of conversation in the geometric patterns of the faded Bokhara.”
In the course of the book, the characters became more rounded. In the case of the protagonist, Major Pettigrew, perhaps too much so. Could the person who is so stuffy and tradition-bound have won and kept the affection of his now-dead wife, the free-spirited Nancy? How could he display such sensitivity in some points and be so show more tone-deaf in others, particularly in his relations with his yuppie financier son, Roger?
The second half of the book contains some wonderful set pieces, the settings of which had been carefully prepared.
Best of all, the abduction scene, in which the major unknowingly reprises his father’s heroic deed, a colonel in the last days of the Raj who rescued a maharani. In a sly detail, Mrs. Ali, who had just returned from shopping, elopes still clutching her bag. This echoes the stereotype insensitively depicted at the annual club ball, in which all female train passengers had a chicken with them.
The climax involves dramatic twists and turns, but these, too, have been carefully prepared, making the denouement all the more satisfying. The light-hearted tone established at the outset carries through the book. Yet, there are serious themes, such as the Sussex suburbs’ casual racism and the various forms of intergenerational conflict. And then again, there is the old rule in drama, according to which a shotgun prominently displayed in the first act is bound to figure in the plot in the last act. Well, in this book, there are two shotguns. show less

Edgecombe St. Mary is a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew’s (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson’s wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction.
The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmine Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. show more Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Alison find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. show less

Major Pettigrew is a literary stereotype from a generation ago: the stalwart military man who keeps his upper lip stiff at all times, insists on being addressed by his title, and practices the courtliness that he fears is disappearing among the younger generation. There are other "types": the village spinster, the outspoken whippet-thin American decorator, the sulky single mother. In this stunning novel the reader learns to abandon prejudices and watch the humanity flower in each character. I couldn't put it down.

The book is essentially a love story between the Major and Mrs. Ali who runs the local convenience store. Both have been widowed for several years and when the Major is reeling from a phone call telling him his only brother has show more died of a sudden heart attack, Mrs. Ali happens to be on his doorstep on an errand and leads him to a chair. He realizes that he is wearing his wife's flowered housecoat over his clothes; in his shock he abandons decorum and explains that he wears it to do housework since it gives him comfort. She understands completely - she often wears her husband's tweed jacket and occasionally puts his pipe in her mouth to taste the tobacco. These confidences lead to shared interests in Kipling and reading in general, walks along the sea front and endless cups of tea.

In the background to this lovely courtship are the many inhabitants of Edgecombe St. Mary who have definite opinions about the mixing of the races; the Major's son, an ambitious and avaricious Londoner and his American fiancee; Mrs. Ali's extended family who threaten to take over her business and her life; and the Major himself, who has a lot of prickly edges that need to be attended to. I loved watching this happen, as when the tentative Major calls for Mrs. Ali as they are about to go to the Golf Club dinner dance:

"He opened his mouth to say that she looked extremely beautiful and deserved armfuls of roses, but the words were lost in committee somewhere, shuffled aside by the parts of his head that worked full-time to avoid ridicule."

It is at the dance that the British and Pakistani cultures collide and the couple find themselves at the mercy of the outside world. As each character emerges, they say and do surprising things: one minute I was giggling and the next my throat was constricting with emotion. There were times when the writing absolutely took my breath away.

In the end, the truth of the story is summed up by the Major himself, who has come a long way in his evolution from a man whose place in the world was secure to one who realizes his own humanity:

"We are all small-minded people, creeping about the earth, grubbing for our own advantage and making the very mistakes for which we want to humiliate our neighbors. I think we wake up every day with high intentions and by dusk we have routinely fallen short. Sometimes I think God created the darkness just so he didn't have to look at us all the time."

I got this book from the library but I'm buying it tomorrow. I have to own it, re-read it, make notes in it. I'm buying copies for my girls. I don't know what Helen Simonson is writing now, but I'll be first in line at the bookstore the day it arrives. show less

I read Helen Simonson's The Summer Before the War before I read her debut novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and had a similar reaction to both books. It took me a while to get into the stories, but once I did, I loved them. Simonson reveals her characters slowly. They not only grow throughout the book, but their true natures come out at a pace that causes the reader's perception of them to change. Either type of change is just as real.

In Major Pettigrew's Last Stand we are presented with a pompous, retired soldier, who demonstrates a shallow nature when his brother, Bertie, dies. Pettigrew focuses his concern on the acquisition of a gun he wants reunited with his own Churchill rifle. He wants to create a pair he can show off to his show more upper class, hunting buddies. But as his friendship with Mrs. Ali, a Pakistani widow, strengthens, the quality of his morality and empathy begins to show.

Although the relationship between Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali is at the core of the story, there are a number of other subplots, which all keep the pages turning. Major Pettigrew has a son, Roger, who is aggressive in his real estate career, while the Major is someone who wants things to remain the same as long as possible. There's a subplot involving the rifles and a disagreement with Bertie's widow about what should be done with this valuable inheritance. And Mrs. Ali is also at the center of a story about her relationship with her late husband's family. The result is a complex plot with plenty of important choices the characters must act on. It's a hard book to put down.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul, White Horse Regressions, and Hopatcong Vision Quest show less

This was a fun read. Major Pettigrew (retired) lives in a small English village. He is an endearing character, but sometimes annoying and rigid. He develops a friendship and romance with Mrs. Ali, a Pakistani shop keeper in the village. She is well-read, a good driver, and apparently quite pretty. Both are widowed, and enjoy each other's company. The cross-cultural relationship causes consternation in both of their social circles.

Simonson develops an elaborately plotted story that allows Major Pettigrew to show his strengths (leadership, caring for others, and knowledge of hunting rifles) and also to confront and modify some of his flaws (rigid ideas about social niceties and an over-attachment to his hunting rifles). I enjoyed the show more descriptions of family relations, social class issues, and gender issues.

Here is a passage I really liked. The Major is talking to his son, as both of them are dealing with relationship problems, and his son asks how he was supposed to know what his girlfriend was thinking when she didn't stay.

"You are not the first man to miss a woman's more subtle communication," said the Major. "They think they are waving when we see only the calm sea, and pretty soon everybody drowns." show less

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a wonderful, sweet read that reminded me tremendously of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It features a relationship between two older people, both of whom have lost their spouses. The path to true love does not run smooth, especially given that the two protagonists do not share the same ethnicity or religion. What makes this book such a delight to read is the subtle British wit that completely infuses every chapter. It is a story where the details really bring it to life, and one that features characters developing as they might in real life - - without a great deal of melodrama. In fact, the only reason I didn't give it five stars is I felt that the climax of the book wasn't really show more consistent with the rest of the writing . . .it just seemed less realistic and believable, and the rest of the book was so authentic that I found the change a bit jarring. But overall, I'm really looking forward to see what else this new writer delivers. show less

This was my book club's pick for June 2018 and what a nice way to end up our reading year. I'm not usually much of a fan of the romance genre but this book had enough redeeming qualities (particularly a lovely sense of humour) that I was charmed all the way through. I see from the notes I used to make after reading book reviews in the Globe and Mail that this book was picked in 2010 for the best books of the year list. I can quite see why.

Major Pettigrew is a 68 year old widower living in the home owned by generations of Pettigrews in Edgecombe St. Mary in Sussex England. His wife has been dead for 6 years and he has just received news that his younger brother has died suddenly. This news has knocked him for a loop so when Mrs. Ali from show more the village shop knocks on his door to collect the money for the newspaper he is hardly able to understand what she is saying let alone make a response. Mrs. Ali who lost her husband a year and a half ago quite understands and takes Major Pettigrew in to make a cup of tea (where would the British be without the restorative qualities of a cuppa?). This is the start of a friendship spent discussing books and family and life. As a widow Mrs. Ali is expected to give up her shop to her nephew and go live with her husband's family in the north of England. The Major discovers as his friendship blossoms that he does not want Mrs. Ali to leave the village. Other people in the village look askance at the relationship between a white man from an established English family and a brown woman who is of the Muslim faith. Even the Major's son, banker Roger, is concerned but he is probably more worried that the inheritance he is counting on would be lost. Then after a disastrous dinner at the Golf Club (one of the funniest scenes in the book) Mrs. Ali does go north in order to convince her husband's family to sanction the marriage between the nephew and the woman he impregnated some years before. Is this it for the older couple? You'll have to read the book to discover the answer.

As a woman who found love later in life I felt I had something in common with the Major and Mrs. Ali. It is heartening to see a book that extols the possibilities of romance for the mature audience. How wonderful love can be no matter what age it comes. show less