Major Pettigrew

On tap for Sunday's co-ed book club is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. A retired British major, a widower, falls in love with Mrs. Ali, a Pakistani widow, in a small English town. Of course, prejudices from the friends, neighbors and family don't make it easy for them.

While the plot feels like it follows a rather standard trajectory, the characters are lovingly drawn, and the Major's relationships with his frustrating family feel real, and his does his charming friendship with Jasmina Ali.