Paperback:
Dear friends, there is no timetable
For happiness; it moves, I think, according
To rules of its own. When I was a boy
I thought I'd be happy tomorrow,
As a young man I thought it would be
Next week; last month I thought
It would be never. Today, I know
It is now. Each of us, I suppose,
Has at least one person who thinks
That our manifest faults are worth ignoring;
I have found mine, and am content.
When we are far from home
We think of home; I, who am happy today,
Think of those in Scotland for whom
Such happiness might seem elusive;
May such powers as listen to what is said
By people like me, in olive groves like this,
Grant to those who want friendship a friend,
Attend to the needs of those who have little,
Hold the hand of those who are lonely,
Allow Scotland, our place, our country,
To sing in the language of her choosing
That song she has always wanted to sing,
Which is of brotherhood, which is of love.
The Importance of Being Seven (2010) is the sixth volume in the ("joyous and charming portrait of city life and human foibles") 44 Scotland Street series.
Despite inhabiting a great city renowned for its impeccable restraint, the extended family of 44 Scotland Street is trembling on the brink of reckless self-indulgence. Matthew and Elspeth receive startling - and expensive - news on a visit to the Infirmary, Angus and Domenica are contemplating an Italian ménage a trois, and even Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery.
But when Bertie Pollock - six years old and impatient to be seven - mislays his meddling mother Irene one afternoon, a valuable lesson is learned: that wish-fulfilment is a dangerous business.
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. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Rating: 5/5
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