Rating: 4 stars
Cover synopsis: The Major leads a quiet life of valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then he sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in teh face of culture and tradition?
This was a refreshing change of pace from the action-packed books I've read recently. This is a book about a romance blossoming between two older people -- one in his 60s and the other in her late 50s. It's also an examination not only of the clash of cultures between Brits and foreigners, but also between the young and elderly and the rich and less-priviledged.
My only complaint is that this insightful, slowly simmering tale ended in a blaze of dramatic events, disrupting the pace. In the last 50 pages or so, there is a dramatic runaway, an attempted murder, a suicide attempt, a called-off wedding and a dangling cliff-hanging rescue. Seemed like a desperate attempt on the part of the author to spice things up at the last minute -- which was quite unnecessary. The witty dialogue and examination of relationships and social norms were quite adequate by themselves.
