Her characterizations are far more disjointed than the plot, which has its flaws but at worst they’re jarring, not heinous. With wit and charm “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” helps the reader to see that a firm stance on all issues might be applauded, but it might also be located just beyond the hedgerow. Mary into a sort of Olde England-style theme park (complete with McManors for sale) and a local club dance (where the theme is, thoughtlessly, the glories of the British presence in India). But this is a romance novel that contains human lessons, tensions and struggles almost too numerous to count.

He became entangled in her green sari in a way that made Mortimer Teale look quite jealous, and was rescued by Alex Shaw; he dragged them behind the bar, which Lord Dagenham and Ferguson seemed to have commanded as if for a siege. So his preference in party style is for black tie and Champagne, though he has to explain to the book’s clichéd, birdbrained club wives that this is not meant as an hommage to Noël Coward. This summer I am putting aside (almost) my history books and reading lighter books or rereading old favorites. Things became a blur as women screamed, men shouted, and bodies hurled themselves at one another only to crash to the ground.Looming largest is the local golf club’s plan to put on a costume party, in keeping with its tradition.

Surprising and deeply felt, the story is also about the kind of courage and re-evaluation that motivates and illuminates the human heart. There are many such screwball ingredients to keep “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” ever-bustling and tirelessly bright. For 27 weeks it stayed on the New York Times Bestseller list, are being translated into 16 languages, and the movie rights have been sold. Peter Altschuler does a marvelous job of supplying different voices and accents (American and British), and switches between them seamlessly. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs.He was a handsome main with thick short hair and large brown eyes, but his head was slightly small and was stuck well into the air as if the man were afraid of his own shirt collar. But when a couple meets and they are instantly struck with the world-stopping, earth-shaking, (insert mushy love related cliche here), knowledge that they will be together until the end of time. But widowed, she has had a taste of freedom, and she is torn between her devotion to family and her need for independence.

And in spite of his feelings about Americans: the “assault of American vowels and the flash of impossible white teeth,” their propensity for “publicly humiliating one another” and their poor sartorial habits. Everything fits together – traditions, values, rebellion, challenges – and creates a story that is both timely and very real. During the Major's attendance at his brother's funeral and during his mourning time, he becomes attracted to an Indian widow, Mrs. In this case, however, the 350-page journey is not one that will reward the reader with amusement, pleasure, or insight.the Major asks, upon seeing the black brush-shaped fake tree that constitutes their idea of clever holiday décor) and has pretentious tastes in everything, including cuisine. His other activities include shooting events where he uses 1 of a matched pair of Churchill shotguns which together in a sale can bring huge sums of money.

However, the characterizations don’t work not merely because there are only two or three bearable people in the entire novel (and this isn't a farcical satire), but mainly because they’re a convoluted mess of contexts. Major Ernest Pettigrew is a decent sort, 68, retired military, widowed, and coping with the death of his younger brother, Bertie.

A lot of interesting themes such as race, class, family, love and sex are explored in a gentle but engaging story. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is Helen Simonson’s absolutely charming mature romance that I highly recommend in audiobook. Pettigrew’s son Roger, a boorish financier and social bounder, eschews anything that threatens his status and his career. He has a son who is mostly interested in himself and often refers to his 68 year old father as "elderly".