Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Major Ernest Pettigrew: The main character, a widower in his mid-sixties.
• Jasmina Ali: The local shop owner, a widow. She is of Pakistani descent.
• Roger Pettigrew: Major Pettigrew's son, who lives and works in London.
• Sandy Dunn: Roger Pettigrew's American girlfriend.
• Ferguson: The obnoxious American.
• Daisy Green: Busybody and the Vicar's wife
• Gertrude: Niece of Lord Dagenham. Very sensible, solid English type.
• Abdul Wahid: Mrs. Ali's nephew
• Alec Shaw: Retired from the Bank of England and a golfing buddy of the Major's
• Marjorie Pettigrew: Bertie's wife and the Major's unpleasant sister in law
• Jemima: Bertie's daughter.
• Robert Carroll "Bertie" Pettigrew: The Major's late brother.
• Alice Pierce: The major's next door neighbor and social issue advocate.
• George: The young Pakistani boy that the Major and Mrs. Ali meet in a park.
• Nancy: The Major's late wife
• Amina: George's mother, an outspoken woman of Pakistani descent who is fired from the country club.
• Mortimer Teale: The Major's solicitor.
• Mrs. Augerspier: A woman who owns an apartment which Roger seems almost willing to prostitute himself in order to rent. She is over impressed with herself and her belongings and is a less than transparent bigot.
• Alma Shaw: One of the ladies of the church Flower Guild.
• Hugh Whetstone: Another of the Major's golfing buddies.
• Father Christopher Green: The vicar.
• Ahmed Ali: Mrs Ali's late husband.
• Gregory: Jemima's son.
• Colonel Preston: The Major's CO during the war.
• Grace DeVere: Member of Flower Guild of the church attended by the Major. Additionally, she has been tasked by ladies of the country club to arrange for the food for "An Evening at the Mughal Court," the country club's annual dance.
• Saadia "Sadie" Khan: Owner of decorating business who agreed to decorate the country club for its annual dance.
• Najwa Rasool: An acquaintance of Mrs. Ali who has agreed to cater Indian food for the country club's annual dance.
• Dave Ali: Ms. Ali's brother-in-law and Abdul's father

Quotes edit see section history

• “The world is full of small ignorances. We must all do our best to ignore them and thereby keep them small.”

  Mrs. Ali

• “He was tempted to celebrate his own boldness with a large glass of Scotch, but as he reached the kitchen he decided that a large glass of sodium bicarbonate would be more prudent.”

• “America wielded her huge power in the world with a brash confidence that reminded him of a toddler who had got hold of a hammer.”

• “Passion is all very well, but it wouldn't do to spill the tea.”

  Major Pettigrew

• “The Maharajah's wife throws herself upon the protection of the British officer. He is only one man, but by God he is an Englishman.”

  Daisy Green

• “We are all small-minded people, creeping about the earth grubbing for our own advantage and making the very mistakes for which we want to humiliate our neighbors.”

  Major Pettigrew

• “Don't start getting all excited. That testicle is still in traction.”

  Roger Pettigrew

• “"Pretty extreme way to call things off. Why doesn't he just send her a text message?"”

  Roger

• “From the nation that conquered the West wearing leather chaps and hats made from dead squirrel.”

  Major Pettigrew

• “He had forgotten that grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a child's math book. Instead, it was almost as if his body contained a big pile of garden rubbish full both of heavy lumps of dirt and of sharp thorny brush that would stab him when he least expected it.”

  Narrator referring to Major Pettigrew

• “Such an awful fragility of love, he thought, that plans are made and broken and remade in these gaps between rational behaviour.”

  Major Pettigrew

• “Neither would a pair of fine guns make anyone a bigger man, he reminded himself, resolving to remain humble all day despite the compliments he was bound to receive.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Edgecombe St. Mary, England: Major Pettigrew's home
• Hazelbourne-on-Sea: Bertie and Marjorie's home, a twenty minute ride from Edgecombe St. Mary.

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Agism: Describe this theme.
• Prejudice & Tolerance
• Social Classes

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Helen Simonson (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Amazon Best of the Month (March 2010: Fiction, #2)
• New York Times Bestseller (2010: Fiction)
• Waverton Good Read Award (2010)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3619 .I56294 M35 2010
• Dewey: 813.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Helen Simonson Website

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history