My 80-year old mom, my sister, and I started a family book club in October. Our first book, chosen by my sister, was Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, a book I remember making rather a splash in the blogosphere when it first came out in 2010. I never got around to checking it out, so I’m glad my little sister chose it for our first read.
I did enjoy the story of Major Pettigrew, a British village widower, and his growing friendship with Mrs. Ali, a Pakistani widow and shopkeeper. The two share an interest in literature and tradition and tea and gardening. And slowly but inexorably, Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali become more than just friends, despite the fact that the Major is nominally Christian and Mrs. Ali comes from a controlling and traditional Muslim family. Village prejudice and family tradition interfere with the budding romance, but love wins in the end.
My mom said, “The Pettigrew book was fun. It’s nice to read a “light” one for a change, and it did keep me interested.”
Baby sister said, “I thought the author tied up the ends (especially the relationships among the club members and “friends”) a little too neatly. I was expecting more conflict. But, a pretty good read.”
I, of course, had to complain a bit, although it’s not really a complaint as much as an observation. The book implies that love conquers all, but also tries to give lip service to the idea that sometimes love is not enough. I especially thought that the author glossed over the religious differences, even though there is an interesting discussion between Major Pettigrew and the village vicar:
“All I’m really trying to tell you is that I see people get into these relationships—different backgrounds, different faiths, and so on—as if it’s not a big issue. They want the church’s blessing and off they go into the sunset as if everything will be easy.”
“Perhaps they’re willing to endure the hostility of the uninformed,” said the Major.
“Oh they are, said the Vicar. “Until it turns out the hostility is from Mother, or Granny cuts them out of the will, or friends forget to invite them to some event. Then they come crying to me.” He looked anguished. “And they want me to promise that God loves them equally.”
“I take it he does not?” said the Major.
Of course he does,” said the Vicar. “But that doesn’t mean they’ll both be saved, does it? They want me to promise they’ll be together in heaven, when the truth is I can’t even offer both a plot in the cemetery. They expect me to soft-pedal Jesus as if he’s just one of many possible options.”
“Sort of like a cosmic pick-and-mix?” said the Major.
“Exactly.” The Vicar looked at his watch, and the Major got the distinct impression that he was wondering whether it was too early for a drink. “Often, I think, they don’t believe in anything at all and they just want to prove to themselves that I don’t really believe anything either.”
So Major Pettigrew, with his “cosmic pick-and-mix” analogy, seems to understand and even acquiesce to what the Vicar is saying, but then on the next page the Major feels estranged from the Vicar because of his stand and “felt no rage, only a calm and icy distance.” And Major Pettigrew proceeds to ignore everything the Vicar has said, without really coming up with any justification or answer to the Vicar’s warning, in order to pursue his relationship with Mrs. Ali. The Major and Mrs. Ali face opposition from her family as well as from the village, but they push on, ignoring their religious and cultural differences.
I just don’t think people who really believe something about family responsibility and about God can ignore their deeply held convictions without some sort of self-justifiction or change in beliefs. Major Pettigrew, especially, is portrayed as very conservative and resistant to change, and it seems he would face more of a cognitive dissonance over culture and religion as he works through his feelings for Mrs. Ali. But his main issues are the disapproval of the villagers and the difficulties with Mrs. Ali’s family.
Anyway, I thought it was interesting that in a post-modern romantic novel in which the main point is that we should overcome all of our prejudices and allow love to conquer all, the author shows an awareness of the difficulties that such a “tolerant” view holds for people who actually believe something specific—even if she doesn’t allow her protagonist to think about the difficulties of tolerance for very long.
I picked our book club selection for November, Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me by Karen Swallow Prior.
