Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group, 2010
Pages: 384, 11 discs
Rating: Do Not Recommend
Synopsis: 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?
Review: Here is another novel that took up almost permanent residence on my to be read stack.
For several discs, the Major was hung up on his Churchill guns. Then, the theme shifts to the cultural differences and bias between him and a Pakistani woman whom he befriends. With a brief mention here or there, the guns are nearly forgotten. I was expecting something more cohesive.
I loved The Summer Before the War, and had I read Major Pettigrew first, I likely wouldn't have read it. Major Pettigrew is cute, but it also felt frustratingly slow at times. Overall I enjoyed this story, but there are better novels out there so for that reason, Do Not Recommend.
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