Hello,
Sorry I am joining in so late - and I'm not sure that I will be able to stick with it, as we move from Aberdeenshire to Edinburgh tomorrow, and will be staying in husband's rented flat until we find somewhere to buy - flat has no real internet (occasionally get signal from upstairs!), so my only access will be when I go to the local library.
Having been brought up in England - even if not in a village - I find all of Simonsons' descriptions completely convincing. The solicitors' firm in the pink building reminds me of so many small country towns, where professionals have set up in lovely old houses -Saffron Walden, in Essex, is a particular example as any of the houses there are different colours, very pretty, but it happens everywhere:
http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Essex/Saffron_Walden/pictures/1129452.
The name of the firm is absolutely typical of many, many law firms - there used to be one in Cambridge, where I trained, called Few & Kester - locally known as Queue & Fester, as it was a shade fuddy-duddy.
I also find the portrayal of the major very accurate - there are so many retired army men who are just like him. Even the apron is just right.
As Barb has already said, there are huge Pakistani populations in the UK. Some have been here for generations. Some adhere very strictly to their Muslim beliefs, the women are covered from top to toe and walk behind the men, etc - there are still far too many "honour killings" when a girl runs away to avoid an arranged marriage - but others are much more "westernised". Meera Syal, who is an English born Pakistani comedian and writer, has written a good book about her childhood in the Pakistani community in (I think) Yorkshire - it's called "Anita and Me".
England may have been a nation of shopkeepers (I think that is attributed to Napoleon?) but these days almost every corner shop or convenience store is run by Pakistanis or Indians. I think the reason for this is that they are prepared to work very hard indeed, and to keep open very long hours, to make a go of things - which they generally do. In the village that I lived in in rural Aberdeenshire some years ago, there was a village shop run by a late middle aged Scottish couple who had taken it on, as so many people do, as some sort of retirement project. It was a miserable place, as the wife in particular seemed to resent you asking for anything - no matter what time I went in (and they were only open quite short hours) I was interrupting her soup making, hair washing, housework or whatever. They did not make you feel at all welcome. In the end they shut the shop, which was the only shop in the village, because they said it did not pay - but the reason for that was their attitude to everyone. Most Pakistani and Indian shops are much more welcoming and obliging, will get stuff in for you, deliver it, etc.
I don't think Mrs Ali's nephew is a bad person - I feel he's much more caught up by the rules of his own culture. He feels obliged to be the "man in charge" because Mrs Ali has no husband.
I also don't see Roger as a bad person. Again, he is a person caught up in what he thinks are society's expectations of him - to be financially successful, fit in with the social climbers who want to go on shoots, etc because they think it makes them look upper class. In this area - Deeside - lots of the estates have pheasant shoots, and the salmon fishing is also very popular. The people who come up to do it like to think they are joining the landed gentry - of course they aren't! The landed gentry - like Lord whatever he is called in the novel - are all on their uppers and need to pander to the whims of overpaid bankers, etc from London, because they need their money. They will
never be admitted to the inner circle of the local aristocracy.
I know that Roger sounds money grabbing when he asks the major for money upfront, but I think many children are in this position - they feel, rightly or wrongly, desperate for money to get on the property ladder or whatever, and they see their parents sitting in valuable property (often far too large and expensive to heat) or hanging onto money. It's not surprising that they feel this way, when society seems to value people - at least in the UK - by the house that they have, the car that they drive, etc. Roger is just as oppressed in his way as Mrs Ali's nephew.
Marjifay - Jemima isn't a common name exactly, but it is one of those Victorian names (viz Beatrix Potter's Jemima Puddleduck) that is coming back into fashion, perhaps more especially amongst the upper middle classes - a bit like Ruby, Mabel, Maud, Violet, etc. My daughter is 16 and she used to have a school friend called Jemima. Marj, do stick with the book, it's not all twee teapots, or hunting - there is a real story underneath, and it develops as you go along.
Rosemary
