Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, 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 (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, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel he will steal your heart.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. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in t
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What you might want to know about Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Major Pettigrew, retired and widowed, is in mourning over his brother's death when the local Pakistani shopkeeper, Mrs. Ali, knocks on his door. Their friendship grows. Their Sussex village does not approve.
Yes, in the slow-burn literary sense. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a quiet English-village romance between a retired British major and a Pakistani-British shopkeeper. It is more contemplative than typical genre romance and includes class and race themes.
No. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a standalone. Helen Simonson has written two other novels, The Summer Before the War and The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, both standalones in similar tone.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand was written by Helen Simonson, published in 2010 by Random House Publishing Group.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is 400 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a standalone novel by Helen Simonson, not part of a series.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
