Staff Pick
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson is a charming, adorable, sweet story about two widowed residents of the small English village of Edgecombe St. Mary. Major Pettigrew (68) is the quintessential British man-of-the-country, complete with strong ideas about duty, honor, family, village life, etiquette, and tea. Mrs. Ali (58) is a lovely, intellectual, Pakistani woman trying to preserve her life in the country against the wishes of her late husband's family, which has very different ideas for her future. When a small flicker of attraction blooms into a small romance between these two, it's sweet and innocent. They both look back fondly upon their respective previous marriages, and this lends itself to an understanding of how rare and lovely a perfect match can be. The Major suffers real angst in trying to navigate his way into this romance and still act within his own idea of what an honorable man is. The reader will truly cheer for these two characters and this charming little gem of a book. I applaud Helen Simonson on her very lovely first endeavor into literature: More, please! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Crime Writers Association John Creasey Dagger Award winner
An ECONOMIST TOP FICTION TITLE OF THE YEAR
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLER OF THE YEAR
A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
A luminous novel, a police thriller, and the funniest book about war crimes and dementia you are likely to read
Sheldon Horowitz—widowed, impatient, impertinent—has grudgingly agreed to leave New York and move in with his granddaughter, Rhea, and her new husband, Lars, in Norway: a country of blue and ice with one thousand Jews, not one of them a former Marine sniper in the Korean War turned watch repairman, who failed his only son by sending him to Vietnam to die. Not until now, anyway.
Home alone one morning, Sheldon witnesses a dispute between the woman who lives upstairs and an aggressive stranger. When events turn dire, Sheldon seizes and shields the neighbors young son from the violence, and they flee the scene. But old age and circumstances are altering Sheldons experience of time and memory. He is haunted by dreams of his son Sauls life and by guilt over his death. As Sheldon and the boy look for a haven in an alien world, reality and fantasy, past and present, weave together, forcing them ever forward to a wrenching moment of truth.
Norwegian by Night introduces an ensemble of unforgettable characters—Sheldon and the boy, Rhea and Lars, a Balkan war criminal named Enver, and Sigrid and Petter, the brilliantly dry-witted investigating officers—as they chase one another, and their own demons, through the wilderness at the end of the world.
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"Unexpectedly entertaining, with a stiff-upper-lip hero who transcends stereotype, this good-hearted debut doesn't shy away from modern cultural and religious issues, even though they ultimately prove immaterial." Kirkus Reviews
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"There is a great deal going on in these pages.... Simonson handles it all with great aplomb, and her Major...is the perfect lens through which to view contemporary England." Booklist
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"In the noisy world of today it is a delight to find a novel that dares to assert itself quietly with the lovely rhythm of Helen Simonson's funny, comforting, and intelligent first novel — a modern day story of love which takes everyone, grown children, villagers, and the main participants, by surprise — as real love stories tend to do." Elizabeth Strout
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"I love this book. Courting curmudgeons, wayward sons, religion and race and real-estate in a petty and picturesque English village – Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is surprisingly, wonderfully romantic and fresh. Unsentimental, intelligent and warm, this endlessly amusing comedy of manners is the best first novel I've read in a long, long time." Cathleen Schine, author of The Love Letter and The New Yorkers
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"This irresistibly delightful, thoughtful, and utterly charming and surprising novel reads like the work of a seasoned pro. In fact, it is Simonson's debut. One cannot wait to see what she does next." Library Journal, starred review
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"The real pleasure of this book derives . . . from its beautiful little love story, which is told with skill and humor. . . . That love can overcome cultural barriers is no new theme, but it is presented here with great sensitivity and delicacy. . . . As for happy endings, [the book] deserves all available prizes." New York Times Book Review
Review
"Funny, barbed, delightfully winsome storytelling... As with the polished work of Alexander McCall Smith, there is never a dull moment but never a discordant note either... [the book's] main characters are especially well drawn, and Ms. Simonson makes them as admirable as they are entertaining... It's all about intelligence, heart, dignity and backbone. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand has them all." New York Times
Review
"When depicted by the right storyteller, the thrill of falling in love is funnier and sweeter at 60 than at 16... With her crisp wit and gentle insight, Simonson is still far from her golden years... but somehow in her first novel she already knows just what delicious disruption romance can introduce to a well-settled life." Washington Post
Synopsis
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel he will steal your heart.
The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?
Synopsis
Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside is filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and contains a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of readers' own families. Their interactions are both hilarious and heartbreaking.
Synopsis
A profoundly moving, deliciously suspenseful novel about an American grandfather and a newly orphaned boy racing across the Norwegian wilderness, fleeing demons both real and imagined.
Synopsis
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Drunken Botanist comes an enthralling novel based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs.
Synopsis
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Drunken Botanist comes an enthralling novel based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs. Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared. “A smart, romping adventure, featuring some of the most memorable and powerful female characters I've seen in print for a long time. I loved every page as I followed the Kopp sisters through a too-good-to-be-true (but mostly true!) tale of violence, courage, stubbornness, and resourcefulness.” — Elizabeth Gilbert
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About the Author
Helen Simonson was born in England and spent her teenage years in a small village in East Sussex. A graduate of the London School of Economics and former travel advertising executive, she has lived in America for the last two decades. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, she now lives with her husband and two sons in the Washington, D.C., area. This is her first novel.
Table of Contents
Part I
The 59th Parallel 1
Part II
River Rats 105
Part III
New River 193