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.

I really enjoyed this book. It has so many aspects - the wry British humor, a stuffy hero softened by a woman and some important issues, such as prejudice, gossip, death of a spouse, cultural differences, family, including adult children with differing values. I was a little thrown by the great-auntie with the knitting needle; it seemed a bit out of place and was not what I has expected as the Major's "Last Stand."

I really liked the development of the Major's relationship with Mrs. Ali, especially their shared love of books, especially Kipling. I picture them reading in their respective chairs well into their old age.

"It is funny, isn't it?" she said in a quiet voice. "A couple may have nothing in common but the color of their skin and the country of their ancestors, but the whole world would see them as compatible." (265)

"You must speak for yourself," she said gently. "I refust to play the dried rose and accept that life must be tepid and sensible." (290)

"He felt, in the area of his heart, a slow constriction of sorrow for his son and wondered where or when he had failed, or forgotten, to teach this boy compassion." (296)

"We must refuse to imagine it and concentrate only on the next step and the next, " he said, swinging the car into the empty car park. "We do what we can do, and the rest is God's problem." (332)

"The Major wondered again at how much love and grief could feel the same..." (352)

This book had been on my tbr list for sometime. It's choice as a book club selection (after several times suggested) made me finally read it. Even though I missed book club this month (Everyone seemed to like the book as well.), I am so glad that I read this one.

I'm surprised how much I liked this. It was on several lists, had good reviews, and so I jumped in. I was utterly charmed.

I found myself laughing out loud more than once. I loved the way Simonson described people with her quick one-liners and comparisons. Her descriptions of places sometimes got a bit too detailed for my preference, but that hardly detracted from the overall story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Es un libro que he disfrutado muchísimo. Es totalmente “cosy”, y con un humor a base de flema inglesa.

Me ha encantado el personaje del Mayor, tan estirado, chapado a la antigua, pero lleno de ironía y sentido común. Su mundo se pone patas arriba cuando empieza a sentir algo por una vecina de origen paquistaní. Sus diferencias sociales y raciales harán que las cosas no sean sencillas.

Hasta el 70% del libro le hubiera dado las 5 estrellas. Todo era mi rollo totalmente: lo british, el pueblo pequeño, los personajes secundarios, el humor, … Me ha recordado a novelas como ‘Crandford’, o ‘El libro de la señorita Buncle’ dónde los rumores, los vecinos, los malentendidos son parte de la historia.

Pero sí que he sentido que me faltaba un poco el desarrollar más el romance, ya que tienen muy pocas escenas solos. Y la parte final me ha parecido un poco sobreactuada.

No obstante, un libro delicioso que te hace sentir calentita por dentro, muy necesario en esta época del año.

I really liked this book. Major Pettigrew's wry English humor is wonderful.

Delightful