The Novel Habits of Happiness (An Isabel Dalhousie Novel) by Alexander McCall Smith

Hardback:  But it was not Jenny she wanted to talk about;  it was what Jamie had said about ancestors.  "I suppose you're right," she said.  "We all have the same number of ancestors, don't we?  We don't go on about them, but we have them, surely.  I mean, there's no monopoly on ancestors.  One can't be ancestor-rich, so to speak."  

He left the window and came to sit down at the table, opposite Isabel.  "It depends on whether you think they exist.  If you think that they're not there any more - because they've died - as ancestors tend to do - then...well, then you can't really have them in your life, can you?"

"So what counts, then," said Isabel, "is whether you have an eschatological dimension to your Weltanschauung."  

For the second time in those few minutes, Jamie said, "What?"

Isabel Dalhousie is one of Edinburgh's most generous (but discreet) philanthropists - but should she be more charitable?  She wonders, sometimes, if she is too judgmental about her niece's amorous exploits, too sharp about her housekeeper's spiritual beliefs, too ready to bristle in battle against her enemies.

As the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, she doesn't, of course, allow herself actual enemies, but she does feel enmity - especially towards two academics who have just arrived in the city.  Isabel feels they are a highly destabilizing influence;  little tremors in the volcanic rock upon which an Enlightened Edinburgh perches.   Equally troubling is the situation of the little boy who is convinced he had a previous life.  When Isabel is called upon to help, she finds herself questioning her views on reincarnation.  And the nature of grief.  And - crucially - the positioning of lighthouses.

The only questions Isabel doesn't have to address concern her personal life.  With her young son and devoted husband her home life is blissfully content.  Which is the best possible launching pad for the next issue of the Review - the Happiness issue.

As Isabel is beginning to appreciate, happiness, for most people, is not quite what it seems.

The Novel Habits of Happiness (2015) is the tenth and latest book in the Isabel Dalhousie series.

About the author:  Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors.  His career has been a varied one:  for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad.  Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.

The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.

Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children.  He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007.  He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America.  Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh.  He is married to a doctor and has two daughters.

Rating:  5/5