He wore a white military uniform with a short scarlet cloak and a close fitted hat adorned with medals. It is a story that deals with religion, politics, race relations and other sensitive topics, but without proselytizing.

As the music segued into an even more raucous tune, the Major was astonished to see a large drunken guest whip off his turban, hand his hooka pipes to his girlfriend, and throw himself across the heaving mass of assailants as if it were all a game. I expect navel-gazing and lots of exploration of self, and it comes a bit too close to self-help for my tastes. A graduate of the London School of Economics with an MFA from Stony Brook Southampton, she is a former travel advertising executive who has lived in America for almost three decades. I am positive that my enjoyment of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is largely due to the fine narration of the audiobook by Peter Altschuler. Her kindness is in sharp contrast to the attitude of his son, Roger, who seems unable to think of anyone but himself and nearly misses the funeral.He has a son who is mostly interested in himself and often refers to his 68 year old father as "elderly". The story amiably ambles through the brother’s funeral, the son’s attempts to capitalise on the rather special guns, a shoot with a fading Duke and a predatory American property developer, and a disastrous themed Christmas dance at the golf club. And are we supposed to feel sorry for the Major because of his frightful son, or wonder at his bad parenting? F.A, as well as a career in travel advertising and a degree from the London School of Economics) that she leaves these manipulations proudly visible.

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. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is one of the most uplifting and rewarding literary romances I’ve read in years. Helen Simonson is a wonderful story teller, builds believable and lovable characters and uses her knowledge of British society to add spice to the telling.

The obsession with the pair of guns was overdone, and was what finally made me stop reading the book. I believe wholeheartedly that one of the reasons I gave this novel 5 stars was because of Altschuler’s brilliance. Set in modern England, it encompasses many facets of British life - clashes and frictions between generations, social classes, religions, and cultures - all portrayed from the POV of an aging, conservative and very proper man who, because of his late love, finds himself compelled to face many issues he preferred to avoid or overlook in the past.