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by Helen Simonson
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel he will steal your heart.
The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?
Thank you to everyone that ventured out to Monjuni's last night for the September Red River Pulpwood Queens meeting! I believe it was a nice respite for all of us. 
Shout out to everyone who wants to come--Romance Writers of America's North Louisiana chapter, NOLA STARS, is hosting a writers' boot camp, open to the public, Saturday October 9th from 9:30 to 2:00pm at the Main Bossier Parish Library. Bring a sack lunch. Drinks and desserts provided. Contact Connie Cox for more information.
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Red River Pulpwood Queens - September Meeting
The Writer’s Guild of Acadiana in Lafayette will host the Acadiana Book Festival from 8:00am-5:00pm on Saturday, October 30, 2010 at Cite des Arts (109 Vine St.) in downtown Lafayette.
The festival is free and open to the public!
Authors include: Christa Allan, Tom Aswell, Christee Gabour Atwood, Marcelle Bienvenu, Jim Booksh, Darrell Bourque, Carl Brasseaux, Anne Butler, Morena Johnson Caleb, Henry Cacienne, Chere Dastugue Coen, Barbara Colley, Sheila Herbert Collins, Donald W. Davis, Mark F. DeWitt, Ann B. Dobie, Terri Hoover Dunham, Woody Falgout, Mary Gelham, D.B. Grady, Greg Guirard, Ava Leavell Haymon, Brandon Hebert, Carla Hotsetter, Patrice Melnick, John Morella, Erin Osborne, Rose Anne St. Romain, Carolyn Shelton, Theresa Newport Singleton, Don Stanford, Carey Weeks, and Beverly Vidrine.
LSU Press, ULL Press, and Margaret Media Press will participate as well as several self-published authors, literary organizations, and authors will small presses. (information from Louisiana Book News)
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead." - Louisa May Alcott
"Water. Beginning and end of life in New Orleans. Just as floodwater seeped into places even light could not go, Katrina's aftermath found the weaknesses of any relationship and drove the wedges. Much as we like to brandish the cliche' that the storm brought us together--and it did on many collective levels the world over--it tore us apart on individual levels just as easily. And it is with these conflicts of the heart, within ourselves, our relationships, our communities, our city, that the artist finds fertile ground, not only for relief by fitting the conflict into words, but healing by sharing those words. " - (excerpt from Life in the Wake: Fiction from Post-Katrina New Orleans, NOLAFugees.com)
