Major Pettigrew lives a quiet life in a Sussex town. When he nearly faints after returning from his brother’s funeral, he’s befriended by Mrs. Ali, a widow who keeps the town’s convenience store and happened to be out for a walk. They’ve much in common as they come to find out, but will the town’s and their own preconceptions and assumptions keep them apart? The Shakespeare quote:

posted Sep 10, 2010 at 7:54PM

This book was delightful. Full of humor. I have to believe that reading it would be good but listening to it made it even better as the narrator does such a good job. I give this book 5 stars.

posted Apr 15, 2011 at 9:14AM

This is not the type of book I normally read and I was surprised that I didn’t want to put it down. The humor made me laugh out loud more than once, and although it’s not a mystery there was a sense of suspense that made me want to find out what would happen to each of the characters. I hope Helen Simonson writes more books, and soon!

posted Jul 5, 2011 at 2:00PM

This was the book selection for a group I belong to but I didn’t attend the discussion. I enjoyed the cultural bloopers being pointed out by our mrs. Ali, especially. She is an endearing character, strong and in a tough spot with family obligations and her own desires. Major Pettigrew was reflective of his own shortcomings and grew through them. It was delightful.

posted Oct 1, 2012 at 9:30AM

Helen Simenson tells the story of a small English village where the gentlemanly Major Pettigrew is a prize to the swarms of widows looking for a companion. But it is the Pakistani shopkeeper who wins his heart and the two of them won mine in this gem of a story. It has Masterpiece Theatre written all over it!

posted Oct 24, 2012 at 2:48PM

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