Loved this book!!

I adored this book. It was delightfully written and full of witty dialogue and excellent characterization. The protagonist was absolutely charming and sharp. It was full of great observations and social satire, and I agree with comparisons to a modern Jane Austen. Highly recommend! ☕️

Great novel. Simonson weaves an interesting narrative that takes its time, while not being too slow. The characters were very understandable, and pleasant to read more about. I think that Simonson started this novel with a clear idea in her head of how she wanted the story to progress, and she has completed it beautifully.

Let's call this one 3.5 stars so I rounded up. I thought that it was a bit slow (especially in the beginning) and a boring plot that plodded along but I kept finding that I wasn't able to stop listening to it. By the end of the story it picks up enough speed that if you stuck though it that far you are rewarded with a satisfying ending. This story reminded me of a Maeve Binchy book that moved a little slow and I love Maeve Binchy so that's all I can use to explain why I loved and was bored by the book at the same time.

The only thing I took exception to was the several mentions of using steel shot in the cherished "Churchill" shotguns. The guns are, at best, from the 1950's and probably more like the 1940's when all the ammo was lead shot. Steel would ruin the barrels and the Major would certainly know this. He would be using bismuth or similar non-toxic soft metal for the ammunition. It's a minor quibble and unimportant to the overall story but it was out of character for someone who knows the difference.

I also got tired of the anti-American comments and the ugly-American stereotypes portrayed. Do the older English really think of us that way? I hope they realize that not all 300 million of us are like that.

Despite these reservations I recommend this book to anyone who likes to watch Masterpiece Theater on PBS or who enjoyed "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel".

a very good book. A little slow at the start, but it picks up quickly and the ending was not what I had anticipated throughout the read.)

I thought this book was delightful. The characters were endearing, annoying, confusing, despicable...the descriptions were excellent. I read some reviews on Goodreads about this - and the negative reviews focused on the fact that Major Pettigrew was shallow while trying to be "proper." I think that was the point. He spent so much time being the proper English gentlemen, he did not see how much of a stereotype - and not a positive one - he had become. I imagined him much different before the death of his wife. Another negative viewpoint concerned the Major's (don't call him Mr.) obsession with the two Churchills (rifles). I suppose I'm not that hard to please, but I thought that they actually played an integral part of the book - on many different levels.

Maybe this is not at all what life in an English village is really like --- but it was fun to imagine that it was at one time.

I would recommend this easy, light read - with a dose of forcing the reader to examine how he/she reacts to others' prejudices...while sometimes being blind to one's own.

I loved this book. I kept picturing it as a show on PBS from BBC. The author did a great job of describing the village, the seaside, the houses and the golf club. I could picture it all. Really would love to see this as a show or a movie. The costumes would be beautiful.

I thought the Major was a wonderful, complex character who always tries to do what is right and honorable. His neighbor, Mrs. Ali, just wants a little cottage where she could read and dream. Together they form an unlikely friendship that grows and changes much like the village around them.

I enjoyed this fun novel.