This book was a very sweet love story between two people dealing with their own struggles that all tie back to age in some way. I read this using my grandmother's very well-loved copy and I can say now that I understand why she's re-read this book so many times.

I especially appreciated how Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali's struggles of being in an interracial and interreligious relationship is portrayed. I was a little skeptical considering the fact that Helen Simonson is a white woman who - as far as I know - is not Muslim, but it was absolutely not an issue in the end. I found Simonson's writing of Mrs. Ali and her family very accurate to the lived experience of myself and those around me. I also really enjoyed Major Pettigrew's character development over the book!

“We are all small-minded people, creeping about the earth grubbing for our own advantage and making the very mistakes for which we want to humiliate our neighbors.”

Charming, predictable, cliché...my top three words for this book. I added a fourth when I came here to write my review and I found out that I had already read this book—forgettable! 

While the characters were well-developed and there was plenty of charm and emotion on the pages of this book, it didn't bring me anything new or original. Every character was entirely predictable and I knew everything that was going to happen. 

If you're looking for a feel-good book that isn't going to disappoint or challenge you in any particular way, this is a good option. Although I'm not sorry I read it once, I am a bit sorry to have done so twice...I'll never get through my TRB list if I do that!