Book Review: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

So far on this blog, I have avoided writing book reviews for specific books.  Instead, I have concentrated on lists of my favorite books and things like that.  The reason for this is mostly my feeling of inadequacy.  I read several other book blogs, and those bloggers are such good writers.  They manage to write interesting book reviews...giving enough info about the book in question without spoilers.  I have been sucked into that old comparison trap!  I realized, though, that if I want to continue to have subjects for blogging, I am going to have to do book reviews.  They may not be long...I may be giving just the most basic info such as whether I liked it or not and a short plot summary.  So here goes.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a gentle comedy of manners about the unlikely romance between the very British Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali, a widow and shopkeeper who in reality is equally British, but is defined by/labeled with her Muslim religion and heritage and is therefore an outsider in her own land.  It is a story about growing old, about maintaining your dignity and independence in the face of the encroaching next generation who believe they know better than you what is best for your life.  For Major Pettigrew, it is a story of family relationships...of how to balance love for (sometimes) well-meaning children and pursuing your own happiness.  It is a novel of learning to love those children in a whole new way.  For Mrs. Ali, it is a story about sacrifice and about breaking away from oppression and finding freedom.

The book opens with Major Pettigrew learning of his brother, Bertie's death, and Mrs. Ali coming upon him immediately afterward.  She helps him in this moment of extreme distress and their friendship begins.  As the story progresses, the friendship blossoms into romance, much to the dismay of both their families.  For everyone besides these two, the relationship is wholly inappropriate.  

Major Pettigrew's son is an ambitious young man with money troubles who more or less wants his father to step out of the way so that he can advance.  An estate dispute over a valuable pair of guns after Bertie's death is  one thread that runs through the novel.  Everyone in the family feels entitled to the guns and wants them for different reasons.  The constant tension over the antique weapons is well crafted by Helen Simonson and is resolved in an unexpected and (I thought) satisfying way.

Mrs. Ali also has her own family problems.  Her husband has arranged for her to own their shop after his death.  However, this does not prevent his family from exerting extreme pressure on her to give up the shop to a nephew and to retreat into retirement and seclusion, which would amount to little better than a comfortable prison for her.  Mrs. Ali has a streak of independence, but she also has a deep love for family, especially children, and may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I enjoyed Major Pettigrew very much.  It is a sweet story.  But, just because I've used words like gentle and sweet, it is a very grown-up book with themes that we all struggle with.  It will be worth it to pick up this book.