Helen Simonson Listened to Her Imagination
to Create Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
(Random House
November 2010)
ISBN: 978-0-8129812-2-3

BookBites (Audio Interview)
Length: About 15 minutes

New York Times Bestselling
Author Helen Simonson

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New York Times bestselling author Helen Simonson's debut novel, MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND, took five years to write. As the mother of two teenaged sons and a former travel advertising executive, Helen found it a struggle to find time to "be with my imagination." The delightful, funny, winsome tale of manners and a unique love story is set in a fictional village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countryside. The story centers around Major Ernest Pettigrew, a most honorable though slightly irascible gentleman whose safe and predictable life is forever changed with his relationships with the enchanting shopkeeper Jasmina Ali evolves into something more than friendship.

In this intimate conversation, Helen Simonson talks about the creative struggles that every writer faces, how a small writing award launched her career, and the wonder and surprise at achieving widespread success as a novelist.

Born in England, Helen spent her teenage years in a small village in East Sussex. A graduate of the London School of Economics and former travel advertising executive, she has lived in America for the last two decades. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, Simonson, who received her MFA from SUNY Stonybrook, now lives with her husband and two sons in Washington DC. She is working on another novel.

After the success of her hardcover novel, Random House has just released the title in paperback.

--Doris Booth