Poor Major Pettigrew. Already a lonely widower, his younger brother has just died. His son, living in London, virtually ignores him. His only true companion is Mrs. Ali, the widowed Pakistani shopkeeper in his village of Edgecombe St. Mary. His nosy neighbors frown at the friendship.
The Major is beset by the modern world. He clings to his old fashioned manners and morals. The newest technology is befuddling. All he wants is his garden, some hot tea, and an occasional gentlemanly game of golf. His family wants him to part with his prized possession-one of a set of hunting rifles that was given to his father by a maharajah for performing a brave deed in colonial India. The family wishes to reunite the Major’s rifle with the one in the possession of his late brother’s widow, and sell them as a pair to a wealthy American.
While the Major’s dilemma is not new or groundbreaking, his story is told with compassion.This book is well-written, and even slightly suspenseful. This is author Helen Simonson’s first novel, and it is delightful reading.
In USA:
Published in hardcover-Random House-2010
Softcover edition-Random House-2010
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand: A Novel (Random House Reader’s Circle)
La Bibliofille 