I really liked The Major who lived alone in Edgecombe St. Mary, England. His son Roger I did not like!

This is a sweet, quiet little book about 68-year-old Major Pettigrew. His wife died six years ago, and his brother dies as the book opens, leaving him basically alone, aside from his adult son Roger, who is a prat. Major Pettigrew is traditional for the sake of chivalry, whereas many people in his village of Edgecombe St. Mary are traditional in the backwards country sense of ignorant people who want to seem better than others. Following his brother's death, Major Pettigrew finds himself starting up a friendship -- and maybe more -- with Mrs. Ali, the town's Pakistani shop clerk, raising hackles in the village about the Major mixing with a woman of a different class and race.
The relationships in the book are intricate and complicated, but all of the characters have distinct personalities and names, and it isn't difficult to tell them apart. Most of the novel is a well-executed comedy of customs, of sorts. The Major has a very dry sense of humor, which aids him as he navigates through another culture he isn't entirely familiar with. Honor, however, is universal.
The climax is startlingly dramatic, but thankfully doesn't descend into anything too theatrical or ridiculous. The story is sweet and heartwarming without being schmaltzy or contrived. A lovely character-driven story about finding companionship.

Didn't hate it... but didn't love it.

One of the best books that I have read. I highly recommend it.

April 2011:
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand reminded me a bit of the British comedies on PBS and a bit of the Miss Julia books by [a:Ann B. Ross|43948|Ann B. Ross|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1259410288p2/43948.jpg], but with a fantastically sarcastic British "curmudgeon" in place of the often clueless Southern church lady. I know that the Miss Julia books are a bit of a guilty pleasure, and I mean no disrespect in this comparison. Both have colorful settings and casts of characters that sucked me in and slightly preposterous plots that snowball to fantastic conclusions.

Major Pettigrew is living a quiet retirement in the English countryside until his developing relationship with a local Pakistani widow, the town busybodies planning the local golf club's annual to-do, his only son's ruthless drive to succeed, and a dispute with his recently deceased brother's widow over a family heirloom, all converge to make his life more complicated.

Helen Simonson has written a terrific first novel and I look forward to seeing what she writes next, whether it features Major Pettigrew or not.

April 2012: I listened to the unabridged audio version, since it was my book group's pick for the month. I loved this story just as much the second time around. One thing that I didn't like about the audio version is that Peter Altschuler uses the same obnoxious-American accent for Ferguson (an uncouth real estate developer from New Jersey) and Sandy (a sophisticated young woman who I believe works in the fashion industry). Both sound like they're from Texas. The voice he uses for George, age 5 or 6, is also really annoying. Otherwise the audio version is well done, but be prepared to wince whenever those characters speak.

This book was slow.... but enjoyable because I read it in chunks over an amount of time and I felt like I still knew what was going on when I came back to it.... I really enjoyed the mannerisms of the British characters.

This is one of the most charming and delightful books I have read in a very long time. The writing is so beautiful, this is the kind of book that you want to copy paragraphs from and remember them forever. I read this on my Kindle and one can choose to see what passages other readers have highlighted. Sometimes this can be annoying (you can turn it off) but for this book, it was affirming to see that others found the same words that just amazed me had struck others as well.

It is the story of a very proper English country gentleman who falls in love with the Pakistani woman who runs the local convenience store. The turmoil their affection creates is one aspect of the novel, and this is quite interesting, but I enjoyed even more the Major's reflections on how his feelings for Jasmina develop. He is a thoughtful man, and she is a terrific woman.

Beautifully written, it evoked emotions likened to reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time, and The Help. The story is told through the staunch and proper Major's eyes, yet richly developed in the way that made you love (and be disgusted with) some of the characters all at the same time. I stopped myself at several moments when I scrunched up my face in a frown (in reaction to a particular character) and thought "wow, this is good." It's also a very sweet love story, in addition to many other wonderful things. :) Highly recommended!