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A review by catherine_the_greatest
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
5.0
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.
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.