Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Mer recommended this book to me and then I suggested it to my bookclub.  It was fantastic.

The book is about a widower who lives in a small town in England.  Upon the death of his brother, he becomes embroiled in estate problems with his brother's family and his son.  At the same time, he grows close to a Pakistani widow who runs a shop in town.  In his quest to navigate his family and his love life, he must break with many of the social norms of his proper English town. 

There were two things I really enjoyed about this book.  First, there was something reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith's work in the earnestness of the characters and their simple situations.  Like in his books, the writing was clear and easy to read, and the plot was simple to follow.  Both of those qualities often made me forget how ambitious the book was.

The other thing I enjoyed was how well Simonson captured the inconsistent nature of "proper" society.  Her depictions of neighbors interacting and of social events perfectly described the implicit prejudices around race and class that the characters would have, on the surface, denied. Many reviews have referred to this aspect of  the book as being a "novel of manners" in the spirit of Jane Austen.  Perhaps it is past embarrassing that I haven't read anything of hers by now.

All told, a great read.  I'd try something else by Simonson but (impressively) this is her first novel.