Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is a contemporary comedy of manners written by English-born author Helen Simonson, exploring the tensions that erupt in a conservative English village when a respected widower, Major Pettigrew, falls in love with Mrs. Ali, a Pakistani shopkeeper’s widow. While the Major longs for companionship with the gracious and sensible Mrs. Ali, he must also navigate conflicts with his self-absorbed son, the changing economy of rural English life, and the melodrama unfolding within the Ali family. Mixing dry wit and cutting commentary on the prejudices of village life, Simonson explores issues such as Cultural Prejudice and the Possibility of Integration, The Tension Between Family Obligations and Personal Fulfillment, and Traditional Households and the Resistance to Change.

This guide refers to the 2010 hardcover edition published by Random House.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of racism, religious discrimination, gender discrimination, illness, death, graphic violence, physical abuse, pregnancy termination, and suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

Major Ernest Pettigrew, retired, is 68 years old and lives in the small English village of Edgecombe St. Mary and has lived alone since his wife, Nancy, died six years ago. One morning, the Major is upset by the news that his younger brother, Bertie, just died of a heart attack. Mrs. Ali, who keeps a shop in the village, makes the Major tea. He is grateful for her kind, steady presence and her empathy for his grief, given that her own husband died just a year and half ago. The Alis are of Pakistani descent, and the Major recalls that Mr. Ali was occasionally the target of racism in their predominantly white village.

While the Major is upset by his brother’s death, he realizes that he will now inherit the second of a pair of valuable Churchill shotguns. (Their father, Colonel Pettigrew, served the British Army in India at the time of Partition, and received the guns from a local Maharajah, then later bequeathed one weapon to each brother, with the intent that the guns would be passed on as family heirlooms.) Now, the Major is upset to learn that his sister-in-law, Marjorie, and his son, Roger, want to sell the guns and divide the money. While the Major has visions of his guns being admired on shooting outings, the others are reluctant to acknowledge the fact that both guns are supposed to be his.

The Major enjoys spending time with Mrs. Ali, who is intelligent and good-humored and shares his interest in classical literature. One day, while walking through a nearby seaside town, they meet a young boy, George, and his mother, Amina, who appears to be of Indian descent. At the Major’s exclusive golf club, he encounters the local aristocrat, Lord Dagenham, in the company of an ambitious American developer named Frank Ferguson, who expresses interest in buying the Major’s guns. The vicar’s wife, Daisy, along with Alma Shaw, the wife of the Major’s friend Alec, and another woman of the village, Grace, are planning the golf club’s annual holiday party and suggest a theme incorporating Mughal India.

The Major and Grace are tasked with asking Mrs. Ali to help with the club dinner. While the Major looks forward to spending more time with Mrs. Ali, he finds it difficult to converse with her devoutly Muslim nephew, Abdul Wahid. Mrs. Ali confides that because she is a widow, her husband’s family wants her to retire, live with them in the north, and give the shop to Abdul Wahid. Mrs. Ali would prefer to retain her independence, but she struggles between her obligations to her family and her wish to pursue her own interests.

The Major is taken aback to find that Roger has proposed marriage to his American girlfriend, Sandy, which whom he buys a weekend cottage not far from the Major’s childhood home of Rose Lodge. Roger is eager to advance his career in the banking industry, and the Major is increasingly dismayed to learn that his son is bigoted and disregards the feelings of others.

One day, both Roger and the Major are invited to a shoot on Lord Dagenham’s property, where they learn that the American, Ferguson, plans to build a housing developing on the estate. The Major is upset to realize that his village is changing in such a fashion.

The narrative reveals that the mother of young George, Amina, was once involved with Abdul Wahid and that George is their son. Abdul Wahid now believes that he should marry Amina so that they can offer the boy a traditional family structure. When the Major discovers this matter, he invites Abdul Wahid to stay at his house while Abdul Wahid’s marriage to Amina can be arranged. The Major has an ulterior motive, however: He hopes to grow closer to Mrs. Ali, and he finally learns that her first name is Jasmina. When Daisy and the others ask Mrs. Ali to be an attendant at their Indian-themed dinner, the Major instead invites her to be his guest, and Mrs. Ali accepts.

The dinner is a complete debacle. The dramatic scene that Daisy scripts, which is supposed to honor the heroic acts of the Major’s father, causes a brawl in the dining room when several of the Indian and Pakistani waiters take exception to the fact that the play makes light of the violence that occurred during the Partition of India and Pakistan at the time of Indian independence. The Major fails to appropriately defend Mrs. Ali from the slurs and insults that she receives that night, and she leaves the village to go live with her husband’s family.

Though he misses Mrs. Ali, the Major tries to be practical and court Grace. However, Grace insists that she wants passion in her life, and she advises the Major to visit Mrs. Ali.

Later, when Roger pressures a pregnant Sandy to terminate her pregnancy, causing her to break off their engagement, and when the Major learns of this, he reflects on his own attraction to Mrs. Ali and decides to choose passion over practical concerns. However, the Alis object to the idea of the Major as a partner for Mrs. Ali, so she agrees to run away with the Major.

They spend an idyllic night at a remote fishing cottage, and the Major knows that he is in love. However, when they return to Edgecombe St. Mary for Abdul Wahid’s wedding to Amina, they find that Abdul Wahid’s great-aunt, offended by Amina’s defiance of traditional Pakistani values, has tried to kill Amina by stabbing her with a knitting needle.

To add to the crisis, Abdul Wahid has fled to the edge of a tall cliff, overcome by deep shame over his own failure to adhere to his family’s strict traditions. The Major takes one of his guns and goes to confront Abdul Wahid, knowing how much it will hurt Jasmina if he doesn’t stop the man from harming himself. The Major insists that Abdul Wahid will have to shoot him if he wants to gain access to the cliff and die by suicide. Abdul Wahid concedes that he could never shoot the Major, but as he lowers the gun, he accidentally discharges it, shooting the Major in the leg. The Major nearly tumbles off the cliff.

When the Major wakes in the hospital, Roger informs him that the gun fell over the cliff and is lost. The Major reflects that he was vain about the guns, and he realizes that he would much rather have Mrs. Ali. Jasmina agree to marry him, and the novel concludes with their wedding.