Helen Simonson

Since his wife's death, Major Ernest Pettigrew (Ret'd) isn't interested in the modern world. But when his brother's death, and a love of Kipling, sparks a friendship with the widowed village shopkeeper, Mrs Ali, the Major is forced to confront the realities of the 21st century. Richard & Judy Bookclub

East Sussex, 1914. It is the end of England's brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so beautiful. But the perfect summer is about to end. Soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small Sussex town and its inhabitants go to war.