Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson.
I’ve finished another one of your recommendations for books that take place in the English countryside! Thank you @erindotsmith for suggesting this one!
The widowed Major Pettigrew is left contemplating his quiet life after the death of his younger brother. His has been a life of following all the rules. When he strikes up an unlikely friendship with the Pakistani local shopkeeper, Jasmina, things begin to take a turn as he starts to learn what’s truly important.
I listened to Major Pettigrew on auidobook, which I would definitely recommend. This is a good one for fans of A Man Called Ove. It’s endearing and heartwarming with some funny bumps in the road along the way. It felt a tad long too for me at times, but not at all tedious.
Have you read Major Pettigrew or the author’s other book, The Summer Before the War? I plan on adding that one to my TBR list.
Summary from publisher:
In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countryside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson’s wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, 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 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 regarding her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9780812981223
Get it at: Amazon or Book Depository
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Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
