It easily could have been half the length - which might have let the charm shine through and given space for the worthwhile characters to be developed. At 496 pages I'm wondering how much got left on the cutting room floor. This might have been an entirely different book with more ruthless editing. I've read instruction manuals that were more exciting. The elements of a good plot exist here, but the story just muddles along. Eventually I stopped trying to keep them straight. There are far too many characters - most of them indistinguishable from each other. Rather than stand out they are lost in the shuffle. Simonson's charm and wit, which made "Pettigrew" so enjoyable, are present in this book but they are buried among superfluous pages and words. Unfortunately, this book was a huge disappointment.
I absolutely loved the book Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, so when I heard that author Helen Simonson wrote a second book I was thrilled to have the chance to read an early copy. Soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small Sussex town and its inhabitants go to war. For despite Agatha's reassurances, the unimaginable is coming. For her part, mourning the death of her beloved father, who has left her penniless, Beatrice simply wants to be left alone to pursue her teaching and writing.īut just as Beatrice comes alive to the beauty of the Sussex landscape and the colorful characters who populate Rye, the perfect summer is about to end. When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking-and attractive-than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. And Agatha has more immediate concerns she has just risked her carefully built reputation by pushing for the appointment of a woman to replace the Latin master. Agatha's husband works in the Foreign Office, and she is certain he will ensure that the recent saber rattling over the Balkans won't come to anything. Hugh Grange, down from his medical studies, is visiting his Aunt Agatha, who lives with her husband in the small, idyllic coastal town of Rye. It is the end of England's brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so beautiful.
The bestselling author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand returns with a breathtaking novel of love and war that reaches far beyond the small English town in which it is set.Įast Sussex, 1914.
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