Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

August 10, 2010

Ah, life in an English village. How idyllic, how charming, how mesmerizing. Or at least that’s how it always seemed to me. And that was what drew me to this book, for it’s set in Sussex, more specifically the (made up) village of Edgecombe St Mary.

I mean, with passages like this, who can’t help but sigh and feel a little envious?

“Behind him, above his own house, the hills swelled upward into the rabbit-cropped grass of the chalk downs. Below him, the Weald of Sussex cradled fields full of late rye and the acid yellow of mustard. He liked to pause at the stile, one foot up on the step, and drink in the landscape. Something – perhaps it was the quality of the light, or the infinite variety of greens in the trees and hedges – never failed to fill his heart with a love of country that he would have been embarrassed to express aloud.”

When we first meet Major Ernest Pettigrew, the news of his brother’s death throws him off balance, and his neighbor Mrs Ali, who tends the general shop in the village, helps him through this difficult time. The Major and Mrs Ali bond over a love for Kipling. And from there, their relationship blossoms.

But with all relationships come difficulties, and for them, it involves not just their respective families but the rest of the village. It’s not an easy road for the pair and it makes for some interesting – although at times, somewhat aggravating – reading, especially when it comes to the Major’s rather obnoxious son, Roger.

The Major and Mrs Ali make for such a thoroughly charming couple though and their relationship enthralled me throughout the book that in the end, I was ok with whatever else went on in the village. It didn’t matter. And of course, reading a book set in Sussex? Ah, that just made me happy, and made me think of my year studying at the University of Sussex, and excursions with friends to Beachy Head and Devil’s Dyke.

Written by olduvai Posted in Reading, review