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What Members Thought
This was wonderfully written and highly entertaining. The attitudes of the villagers were downright infuriating at times, but that definitely enhanced the story. Despite his pretensions and pomposity, Major Pettigrew is an endearing, charming character and Mrs. Ali is just delightful.
I just adored this to itty-bitty pieces. The Major was steadfast in his conservatism, and I completely respect the decision to keep him both immovable yet genteel to the end. He felt like such a real character, even as circumstances around him became larger-than-life, and I was rooting for him the whole way through. It's the sort of story that's ripe with atmosphere and a plethora of characters and you don't have any trouble telling them all apart. And it never seemed "easy" -- as if the problem
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Major Pettigrew is one of those character whose short-sightedness never gets pointed out by the author, but who you gradually come to see and flawed but honorable, a man who does the right thing but doesn't always realize when he's doing the wrong thing. Through his growing friendship with Mrs. Ali, the village shopkeeper, some of his behaviors and attitudes gradually shift. The humor is dry, the setting nicely vivid, and rest of the cast of characters ranging from horrid to ridiculous to unexpe
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This was a pleasant story, but I'm not sure what it wanted to be: a book about country life vs. city life? Generational differences? Interracial relations? Manners? Family dynamics? All of those things were hinted at just enough to make me interested in where the story would go, but either that's not what the book was supposed to be about, or Ms. Simonson chickened out of making a real statement. Several subplots were introduced and just as quickly dropped, and it felt more like "oh, yeah, I don
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Fun, sweet book about a widowed British Major who falls in love with a widowed Pakistani shop keeper. It deals with family relationships, prejudices, and small village drama in a believable, interesting, satisfying way. The clever dialogue had a modern day Jane Austen flavor. Very enjoyable read.
I struggled at the beginning to stick with this book, and I'm not entirely sure why. Happily, the superb writing was incentive enough to keep with it, and it was an extremely satisfying, incredibly well-written read.
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Light and fun without being too flimsy. Lovely.
Apr 26, 2011
Joanie
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2012
Magda
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2012
Tara
marked it as to-read
Adorbs.
Nov 19, 2012
Charlotte
marked it as to-read
Jan 05, 2013
Shauna
marked it as to-read
Oct 15, 2015
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Dec 12, 2015
Rachel Piper
is currently reading it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
mount-tbr-2019
Jul 17, 2022
Emily
marked it as to-read
