Will I love Major Pettigrew's Last Stand?

Having grown up in South Africa, a former British colony, I've always had a soft spot for the British. Tea and scones, understated manners, and insistence on proper etiquette are all familiar.

So when Major Pettigrew appears in the opening pages, I recognized his quintessential Englishness immediately. His dazed grief after his wife’s death makes him all the more endearing. And when this very proper widower finds himself attracted to Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper in the English village, I was completely hooked.

Their relationship is an unlikely friendship that blossoms into love, and I was captivated by how he… show more.

I was gifted this book by a dear friend years ago. It addresses societal expectations, ageism, class biases, and prejudices.

As both a sociologist and a lover of fiction, I appreciate the inclusion of big themes within a small story. On the surface, this registers as a charming tale of late-life romance and English countryside morals. But the meat of it lies in how those morals prohibit change and tolerance. I adore Captain Pettigrew for all his bluster and underlying vulnerability. And his romance with Mrs. Ali, I see as a testament to maturity.

Simonson’s use of irony and Pettigrew’s… show more.

This was such a delightful and heart-warming tale! A genuine romance.

Major Pettigrew, a staunchly traditional Englishman struggling with an ungrateful son and the changes caused by the death of his brother, is unexpectedly drawn to the intelligent and cultured shopkeeper, Mrs. Jasmina Ali. Their friendship grows as they share their love of literature and the loss of their spouses, but rattles family and villagers' sense of what is proper and acceptable. This charming and witty love story is set in a small English village, where obligations, societal pressure, and cultural differences challenge but fail to defeat their budding romance.