Simonson’s debut novel is a charming, unconventional love story between two widowed adults, Major Ernest Pettigrew, a retired English Colonel and Mrs. Jasmina Ali, a Pakistani store owner, in a small English village, Edgecombe St. Mary. The novel follows the couple’s path to love despite family and village members’ provincial objections.
The novel’s charm lies in its simplicity. This love story is built on a sweet friendship and is void of any distracting melodrama. Readers witness Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali’s love gradually unfold through acts of kindness and genuine understanding as they confide in and learn to appreciate each other.
Simonson masterfully creates both her main and secondary characters. Rather than depending on wordy physical and behavior trait descriptions, her characters come alive through their unique quirks, mannerisms and responses to a variety of situations. While the two main characters are intelligent and good-natured, the secondary characters ( including the Major’s self-centered son, Roger, the Major and Mrs. Ali’s endearing friend, Grace, and Mrs. Ali’s troubled store clerk, Amina) are colorful and entertaining.
Simonson reflects upon her childhood memories of English village life, as she creates the pastoral setting in the fictitious, Edgecombe St. Mary. The village’s slow paced lifestyle contributes towards the novel’s relaxing, yet intriguing, pace. Comparable to Jane Austen’s style, Simonson makes astute observations about village society’s rules through wit and satire.
Simonson’s delightful debut novel is bound to generate a following of loyal readers, eagerly anticipating the author’s future work.
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